Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[UrbanCharlotte]

7 hours ago, LKN704 said:

777s are now loaded in the schedule for CLT-MAD/CDG/FCO next year, in addition to FRA/LHR/MUC.

I would bet that DUB doesn't come back until A321XLRs have been delivered. 

I’m assuming based on what happens in the next 3-6 months will dictate if these routes are adjusted/ additional routes such as DUB/BCN are reconsidered? 

[LKN704]

50 minutes ago, UrbanCharlotte said:

I’m assuming based on what happens in the next 3-6 months will dictate if these routes are adjusted/ additional routes such as DUB/BCN are reconsidered? 

I'm not sure. I would think that the 777 would be too much for DUB, and unless AA wants to rotate a 787 through CLT just to operate for that one flight, there is no other aircraft that could make it. The A321Neo could make it, but I think the Bylaws of the transatlantic JV with BA require lie flat seating in the premium cabin on all flights to Europe. 

[stiluvclt]

Every time I go to this thread,  you know, the one  that says Charlotte/Douglas International Airport Expansion, I keep expecting to see updated construction pics of the lobby work but all I read about is OAG type stuff. I reiterate, can someone drive out to the "free for the first hour"  lot and grab som photos?  I feel sure that the top level of that lot is a solid vantage point for the kind of pics that I see of uptown!

Edited May 17, 2020 by stiluvclt

[CLT>]

23 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

I know the airport owns a lot of land around the airport. Are businesses like Park N' Go, The Parking Spot, Fed Ex Freight, the Old Dominion freight facility, the Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn, etc... leasing land from the airport (and thus can be kicked out) or are they just going to offer these businesses money they can't refuse to get them out of there?

Also, I think we can throw the "office" area at the 85/ 485 interchange out the door since that is the massive Amazon warehouse. 

The ones you mentioned are not yet owned by  the airport, but most of the other land save those businesses (including many currently operating) is owned by CLT. They will definitely be making them 'an offer they can't refuse' for the remaining parcels.

This shows the CLT owned land as of 2017, they've added some but not all of the grey at the top.

 

[LKN704]

I recall that years ago, the plan was to turn the area surrounding the old control tower once it was decommissioned into an onsite hotel. Is this something that still would be in the works, or is the airport putting all of their resources into TOD by the LRT?

[cltbwimob]

4 hours ago, LKN704 said:

I'm not sure. I would think that the 777 would be too much for DUB, and unless AA wants to rotate a 787 through CLT just to operate for that one flight, there is no other aircraft that could make it. The A321Neo could make it, but I think the Bylaws of the transatlantic JV with BA require lie flat seating in the premium cabin on all flights to Europe. 

I wonder if now is not the time for CLT to go after Aer Lingus service to DUB because they do have the A321s that can make the trip.  Plus they are owned by IAG-the parent of British Airways and Iberia-so I assume that one day they will be part of the transatlantic JV with AA/BA/IB if they aren’t already.

[LKN704]

2 minutes ago, cltbwimob said:

I wonder if now is not the time for CLT to go after Aer Lingus service to DUB because they do have the A321s that can make the trip.  Plus they are owned by IAG-the parent of British Airways and Iberia-so I assume that one day they will be part of the transatlantic JV with AA/BA/IB if they aren’t already.

That's always a possibility. I know they applied to be part of the JV a while back but I am not sure if they have been approved yet.

Another possibility that I was slightly hoping for is that if AA saw value in CLT-MAD but thought the 777 was too premium-heavy for the route, Iberia could take over the route with an A332 because the route is metal-neutral under the JV.

[CLTramper]

321-Neo going to LAX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

777-200 on D-11

I'll grab some terminal entrance pictures also.  Hope I did this right. 

[CLTramper]

Terminal entrance expansion.

[cltbwimob]

5 hours ago, CLTramper said:

321-Neo going to LAX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

777-200 on D-11

I'll grab some terminal entrance pictures also.  Hope I did this right. 

Man, I love the 777.  Beautiful bird.  If only we could get one of BAs trip-7s in the mix.

[SentioVenia]

15 hours ago, CLTramper said:

777-200 on D-11

I'll grab some terminal entrance pictures also.  Hope I did this right. 

Beautiful!  First regular 777 in CLT since BA in the  early 2000s.   Cropped and color corrected for further enjoyment:

[LKN704]

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/291331/american-airlines-ns21-long-haul-changes-as-of-17may20/

Dublin and Barcelona have been loaded in the schedule for next year with a 777. Obviously everything in the schedule should be taken with a grain of salt at this point. 

Seems quite bizarre to me given that the 777 is a huge capacity increase on both routes, and AA is flying a 787-8 on both markets ex PHL, which is a stronger transatlantic market. 

[kermit]

7 minutes ago, LKN704 said:

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/291331/american-airlines-ns21-long-haul-changes-as-of-17may20/

Dublin and Barcelona have been loaded in the schedule for next year with a 777. Obviously everything in the schedule should be taken with a grain of salt at this point. 

Seems quite bizarre to me given that the 777 is a huge capacity increase on both routes, and AA is flying a 787-8 on both markets ex PHL, which is a stronger transatlantic market. 

What routes (broadly) are these new aircraft (for CLT) being pulled off of?  Where is AA planning to back off on long haul routes? It doesn’t seem like its going to be CLT.

[CltFlyer]

18 minutes ago, kermit said:

What routes (broadly) are these new aircraft (for CLT) being pulled off of?  Where is AA planning to back off on long haul routes? It doesn’t seem like its going to be CLT.

I wouldn't put any thought into the changes you are seeing right now.  They are likely just placeholder changes (because they took the A330's out of the system) and European route decisions for Summer 2021 will be officially made at a later date.

[CLT>]

On 5/17/2020 at 1:54 PM, LKN704 said:

I recall that years ago, the plan was to turn the area surrounding the old control tower once it was decommissioned into an onsite hotel. Is this something that still would be in the works, or is the airport putting all of their resources into TOD by the LRT?

That's still the plan (pre COVID19) Labeled 'Terminal Area Hotel'

 

I assume once hospitality starts getting back to normal they would issue an RFP for that portion of the development well prior to silver line construction getting started.

Personally I just hope the Biergarten has views 

[kermit]

9 minutes ago, CLT> said:

Personally I just hope the Biergarten has views 

Yea, if it is any good it will lead to me getting a divorce. I'll never again pick anyone up in the terminal, I'll just say "ride the APM out to the Biergarten and find me there." Followed by "honey, can you drive me home?"

[CLT>]

7 minutes ago, kermit said:

Yea, if it is any good it will lead to me getting a divorce. I'll never again pick anyone up in the terminal, I'll just say "ride the APM out to the Biergarten and find me there." Followed by "honey, can you drive me home?"

They would be naming a table after me, especially after the silver  line  is done

I REALLY wish they would make the old control tower into a cocktail bar attached to the hotel, but sadly don't think that's in the cards....

[Miesian Corners]

On 5/17/2020 at 10:09 AM, LKN704 said:

I'm not sure. I would think that the 777 would be too much for DUB, and unless AA wants to rotate a 787 through CLT just to operate for that one flight, there is no other aircraft that could make it. The A321Neo could make it, but I think the Bylaws of the transatlantic JV with BA require lie flat seating in the premium cabin on all flights to Europe. 

The 777-200 is smaller than the 330-300 that flew the route over the past three years. 

[BarrenLucidity]

2020/21 routes have loaded. Looks like we're a 777-200ER shop now. 

Charlotte – Barcelona eff 06MAY21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily
Charlotte – Dublin eff 06MAY21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily
Charlotte – Frankfurt eff 28MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily (777 begins from 24OCT20)
Charlotte – London Heathrow eff 28MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-300, 2 daily (777 begins from 24OCT20)
Charlotte – Madrid eff 27MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily
Charlotte – Munich eff 28MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily (777 begins from 07JUL20)
Charlotte – Paris CDG eff 27MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily
Charlotte – Rome eff 28MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-300, 1 daily

[CLT704]

38 minutes ago, Miesian Corners said:

The 777-200 is smaller than the 330-300 that flew the route over the past three years. 

Dublin was a 200 though. I know AA has more 777s but I'm surprised that we got the 777 rather than PHL, IMO it would have made more sense for us to get the 787 and PHL get the 777.  The 787-9 is the closest match to the -300 and the commonality with the -8 would have made sense for a smaller INTL network where a multiple fleet base doesn't make sense. 

I would hazard a guess that the route planners simply ran a straight switch within the system, some sort of coding that replaced the 330s rather than them going through each route. If PHL gets the 787 on BCN, there is no way we're getting BCN on the 777 so this is not final. 

Edited May 19, 2020 by CLT704

[csweet]

1 hour ago, BarrenLucidity said:

2020/21 routes have loaded. Looks like we're a 777-200ER shop now. 

Charlotte – Barcelona eff 06MAY21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily
Charlotte – Dublin eff 06MAY21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily
Charlotte – Frankfurt eff 28MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily (777 begins from 24OCT20)
Charlotte – London Heathrow eff 28MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-300, 2 daily (777 begins from 24OCT20)
Charlotte – Madrid eff 27MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily
Charlotte – Munich eff 28MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily (777 begins from 07JUL20)
Charlotte – Paris CDG eff 27MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-200, 1 daily
Charlotte – Rome eff 28MAR21 777-200ER replaces A330-300, 1 daily

I think this is great for CLT, and the future of the AA hub. 777 are much more prominent in the fleet, which IMO makes CLT more relevant in AA's future intl network strategy. 

[LKN704]

Just landed in CLT from DCA. First time parking at the A gates. Seemed busier than I expected it to be and more shops were open then I thought would be. 

I was surprised that during the renovations they also replaced the exterior cladding with this new metallic-white material. Looks nice and modern. Jetways were also new. 
 

Whereas almost everyone at DCA was wearing a mask, most people at CLT did not have masks or facial coverings. DCA also didn’t have any shops/restaurants open. 

I was the only passenger waiting to be picked up on the upper level curbside.

Pics are below of A (and a cool shot of the pentagon I took at takeoff from DCA). 
 

[kickazzz2000]

On 5/15/2020 at 1:40 PM, KJHburg said:

that is why I fly to Dallas Love if my destination is Dallas. You are right their rental car place is way south of the airport.  

I would do it if AA flew CLT-DAL

[kermit]

How much retraining is required for mechanics for a new aircraft type? Is the shift from A330 to B777 going to require new hires locally? A few weeks of school? or just new manuals in the hangers?

[Miesian Corners]

3 hours ago, CLT704 said:

Dublin was a 200 though. I know AA has more 777s but I'm surprised that we got the 777 rather than PHL, IMO it would have made more sense for us to get the 787 and PHL get the 777.  The 787-9 is the closest match to the -300 and the commonality with the -8 would have made sense for a smaller INTL network where a multiple fleet base doesn't make sense. 

I would hazard a guess that the route planners simply ran a straight switch within the system, some sort of coding that replaced the 330s rather than them going through each route. If PHL gets the 787 on BCN, there is no way we're getting BCN on the 777 so this is not final. 

I flew it twice last summer and it was a -300 (and it was full).