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Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion


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19 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

I work out of Atlanta and cover markets from Toronto to SF to Miami. No one I work with or for doesn't ignore or not mention Charlotte favorably. They also don't know I'm an original Charlottean. Charlotte is mentioned in the same breath as Dallas, Atlanta and Nashville. 10 years ago it was probably a regrettable place to go. Not anymore. 

Could that have something to do with the industry you work in?  I've seen too many examples, including people I know, who have no clue what or where Charlotte is.  I think the silly "Charlotte U.S.A" campaign  was really premature, as is this recent petition to change UNC-Charlotte to the University of Charlotte.  Wait until people realize Charlotte is in North Carolina before dropping North Carolina.

For most people who fly into CLT, Charlotte is not their final destination, so they really don't care where they are.  All that matters is that they get to their connection in time so they reach their final destination.

I posted awhile back about a CNN weatherman during one of the recent hurricanes reporting that "downtown Charlotte" was under floodwaters.  He said this several times.  I knew the hurricane not reached Charlotte, and immediately looked to the TV only to see images of antebellum buildings.  It was clearly Charleston.  After a commercial break, the anchor for that broadcast started out with a correction that Charleston was flooding, not Charlotte.

Right after the KKK/neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, VA, there was a meme widely circulating on Facebook about the march in "Charlotte, Virginia."  Twice I've had to correct a California friend of mine and explain to her that Charlottesville and Charlotte are two different places in two different states with NOTHING in common.  And the other day I had to TWICE correct another friend that Charlotte is not in South Carolina.

It's astonishing to me that people STILL don't know where Charlotte is, but unfortunately they don't.  I think it would be worth investing in that dome over BoA stadium so a Super Bowl can come to Charlotte and expose Charlotte to the biggest audience in all of U.S. television.  That would help bring some awareness.

Edited by JacksonH
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1 minute ago, JacksonH said:

Could that have something to do with the industry you work in?  I've seen too many examples, including people I know, who have no clue what or where Charlotte is.  I think the silly "Charlotte U.S.A" campaign  was really premature, as is this recent petition to change UNC-Charlotte to the University of Charlotte.  Wait until people realize Charlotte is in North Carolina before dropping North Carolina.

For most people who flying to CLT, Charlotte is not their final destination, so they really don't care where they are.  All that matters is that they get to their connection in time so they reach their final destination.

I posted awhile back about a CNN weatherman during one of the recent hurricanes reporting that "downtown Charlotte" was under floodwaters.  He said this several times.  I knew the hurricane not reached Charlotte, and immediately looked to the TV only to see images of antebellum buildings.  It was clearly Charleston.  After a commercial break, the anchor for that broadcast started out with a correction that Charleston was flooding, not Charlotte.

Right after the KKK/neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, VA, there was a meme widely circulating on Facebook about the march in "Charlotte, Virginia."  Twice I've had to correct a California friend of mine and explain to her that Charlottesville and Charlotte are two different places in two different states with NOTHING in common.  And the other day I had to TWICE correct another friend that Charlotte is not in South Carolina.

It's astonishing to me that people STILL don't know where Charlotte is, but unfortunately they don't.  I think it would be worth investing in that dome over BoA stadium so a Super Bowl can come to Charlotte and expose Charlotte to the biggest audience in all of U.S. television.  That would help bring some awareness.

Not really. I think it could be more that the people that I work with are highly educated and probably are in the top 10% of people traveling. I work for a big tech company. 

Edited by CarolinaDaydreamin
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Some mistake Chattanooga (CHA) for Charlotte.  Also, the NBA abbreviates Charlotte as CHA instead of CLT for some reason (as seen in Hornets broadcasts and in this year’s All-Star Game).  You would think they would use CLT for consistency.

307C9809-CF7E-4D5A-B9D7-AC2C027D251D.png

Edited by King of the Queen City
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18 hours ago, JacksonH said:

Twice I've had to correct a California friend of mine and explain to her that Charlottesville and Charlotte are two different places in two different states with NOTHING in common.  And the other day I had to TWICE correct another friend that Charlotte is not in South Carolina.

I know we're veering off topic, but I did want to comment on this, as I've had the same issue with NC/SC here in Denver.  For the most part, the younger, more mobile demographics moving to Denver are familiar with Charlotte, especially those moving from the East Coast.  The people I find that are more unaware of Charlotte and whether it's in North or South Carolina tend to be people who have lived here most of their lives (typically aged 40+), and really anyone from the West Coast.  For them, the East Coast is well out of their sphere of influence, so outside of the major cities (NY, Boston, DC, Atlanta, Miami) there really is a geographic disconnect of where cities and even STATES are located on a map.  And this makes sense to me - as when I moved here to Denver (which mind you is still 1,200 miles to the CA coast) I couldn't tell you where any cities in California were outside of San Diego, LA, SanFran, and Sacramento.  People thought I was rather ignorant for not knowing the major beaches of CA and where they are LOL. 

A lot of people know there is a North and South Carolina, but just lump them in together kinda like I do with the Dakotas.  I think part of that can be attributed to one of their main associations being the Carolina Panthers. This lack of knowledge tends to drop as you move up in education level and salary - both of which I think are indicative of more business travel/connections to the East Coast, among other things.

And to be fair - Charlotte IS on the state line; the MSA includes several major suburbs I lived in (Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Tega Cay) all in SC.

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32 minutes ago, queensguy06 said:

I know we're veering off topic, but I did want to comment on this, as I've had the same issue with NC/SC here in Denver.  For the most part, the younger, more mobile demographics moving to Denver are familiar with Charlotte, especially those moving from the East Coast.  The people I find that are more unaware of Charlotte and whether it's in North or South Carolina tend to be people who have lived here most of their lives (typically aged 40+), and really anyone from the West Coast.  For them, the East Coast is well out of their sphere of influence, so outside of the major cities (NY, Boston, DC, Atlanta, Miami) there really is a geographic disconnect of where cities and even STATES are located on a map.  And this makes sense to me - as when I moved here to Denver (which mind you is still 1,200 miles to the CA coast) I couldn't tell you where any cities in California were outside of San Diego, LA, SanFran, and Sacramento.  People thought I was rather ignorant for not knowing the major beaches of CA and where they are LOL. 

A lot of people know there is a North and South Carolina, but just lump them in together kinda like I do with the Dakotas.  I think part of that can be attributed to one of their main associations being the Carolina Panthers. This lack of knowledge tends to drop as you move up in education level and salary - both of which I think are indicative of more business travel/connections to the East Coast, among other things.

And to be fair - Charlotte IS on the state line; the MSA includes several major suburbs I lived in (Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Tega Cay) all in SC.

From my experience, most people know of Charlotte and even speak of it favorably. A lot of these folks can’t quite remember whether it’s in NC or SC. Rarely do I hear of people getting Charlotte confused with Charlottesville or Charleston (mostly because Charlotte is the largest of the 3 and is more often in the spotlight recently). It think it’s kind of like how growing up, I always knew Chicago was a major city, but I didn’t personally associate it with Illinois. The way I see it, for most other major cities, knowing the state they’re located in has been less important for their popularity. It has been more so about the name they’ve made for themselves and how unique they are individually.

Edited by thenewkage95
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Well this thread certainly took an unexpected turn, haha.  I knew the NBA had always used CHA, but I assumed it was initially done out of ignorance about the CLT abbreviation, as Charlotte was not nearly as well known before the arrival of the original Hornets franchise in 1988 and CHA is obviously the first three letters of the city’s name (though it is the Airport code for Chattanooga and could also easily be mistaken for Charleston).  If it was really done for the same reason that EA Sports does not allow it then wow, just wow...

This year’s BUZZ CITY edition uniforms include a tribute to Charlotte as a “CITY OF FLIGHT,” and CHA is embroidered on them.

952BBACE-6302-47BF-BD33-405BCD81D9F6.thumb.png.273e2519e53be3d8b2608c7adeb09162.png

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Also, Stevie Nicks recently stirred up controversy at the Spectrum Center thinking she was in South Carolina. She kept digging herself deeper in the hole and the Observer wrote an article about it:

At Fleetwood Mac show, Stevie Nicks confuses North and South Carolina. Or... something.

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I don't even argue anymore.  From my travels I have come to the realization that most Americans are geography dumb and woefully ignorant to people and places unfamiliar to them.  I can tell with 100% certainty people in the northeast have no idea there are 10 million residents in NC and swear its all farmland.  I just came back from NY and I had to hold my temper due to the ignorance.  As far as the airport goes I really wish there was more around it but I realize just 30 years ago CLT was no bigger than Richmond MSA wise.  That lets you know it will be a while before perception catches up to the world.  I say an MSA of 4 mil and a full fledged airport district will do the job.

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20 hours ago, Miesian Corners said:

Here are some notes from the AA/CLT Aviation Department's Town Hall meeting yesterday (copy and paste from a post on facebook).

The plans for the airport remodeling are quite extensive, with most completion dates being 2023-2024 (4-5 years away). Here we go:

B-Con: hope to have completed by Thanksgiving. The total completion of B&C, by the RNC.

Expanding charging capabilities throughout the terminals.

E-Con Phase II: The update to include 3 elevators, and the addition of more escalators, totaling 2 up, and 2 down.

Upper level (8 lane roadway): 3 lanes for commercial vehicles, 5 for private. Hopes to transfer traffic to the “new” road within 4-6 weeks, and to have to whole project done by October.

90 ft. Terminal lobby expansion: scheduled completion, 2024. It will be done in phases, as they still have to be able to check people in and utilize that area.

A-Con Phase II: 10 gate expansion, estimated completion, 2023.

Parking lots 1 &4 to be used as employee parking. All other lots will be used for overflow parking. (I know. We’re already cramped as is). This will be done within the next 4-6 weeks.

New de-icing pad: 2023-2024

They will have to start on some runway and taxiway rehabs.
The one that will take place almost immediately is RWY 18L/36R. They will start milling out some of the asphalt and replacing it each night, as they will still have to continue to use this runway. Dec said they will start now through Thanksgiving, and come back in March, and finish late spring of 2020.

The date of the concourse B renovations completion seems to keep being pushed back.  By the time it is done they will have been working it on for almost two years.  I understand that it takes longer working with a short time window each day, but it still feels like it is taking much longer than it should. 

Did they mentioned anything about an updated  timeline for completion of the A-Concourse renovations or the East Terminal Expansion?

I'm interested to see how they separate phases for the main terminal lobby expansion.  Perhaps by security area, ticketing area, canopy?   

Finally,  on the website it has the proposed phase 2 of A North being 16 gates.  Have they broken it down into three phases or are they going to cap it at 19 gates instead of 25?  Was there mention of the proposed  new "OAL" terminal with check in counters, baggage claim etc..?

 

Edited by CltFlyer
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38 minutes ago, NcSc74 said:

I don't even argue anymore.  From my travels I have come to the realization that most Americans are geography dumb and woefully ignorant to people and places unfamiliar to them.  I can tell with 100% certainty people in the northeast have no idea there are 10 million residents in NC and swear its all farmland.  I just came back from NY and I had to hold my temper due to the ignorance.  As far as the airport goes I really wish there was more around it but I realize just 30 years ago CLT was no bigger than Richmond MSA wise.  That lets you know it will be a while before perception catches up to the world.  I say an MSA of 4 mil and a full fledged airport district will do the job.

Funny enough...I always have a hard time explaining to people where i am from, but specifically to American people.  Most internationals usually know where my country is located on a map.   This is coming from a guy that was born in Bosnia, but grew up in North Carolina. 

Edited by NikolaTesla
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7 hours ago, NikolaTesla said:

Funny enough...I always have a hard time explaining to people where i am from, but specifically to American people.  Most internationals usually know where my country is located on a map.   This is coming from a guy that was born in Bosnia, but grew up in North Carolina. 

Is this Darijo? :)

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