Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[TCLT]

4 hours ago, Miesian Corners said:

I watched the long video about CLT construction staging again. The canopy was to be "installed at night." What I can't figure out is why it took two weeks to deliver and install three trusses to the new building and drop a single truss over the roadway. What does this say for the next section of the expansion when it comes time to complete the canopy? I can only imagine it will be far worse. The LGA reconstruction staging was better planned and executed--and that was for an entirely new building on one of the busiest roadways in the country's largest city. 

Re: LGA, the traffic situation there was a catastrophe for years. Far far far worse than the last couple weeks at CLT.

[Miesian Corners]

22 hours ago, TCLT said:

Re: LGA, the traffic situation there was a catastrophe for years. Far far far worse than the last couple weeks at CLT.

I'm not so sure about that. I use LGA all the time and have never missed a flight due to not being able to get to the terminal in a taxi (as I did last week at CLT after leaving Cotswold three hours before my scheduled departure and using the Express Parking deck). 

[LKN704]

Close up of the installed trusses, courtesy of the CLT Twitter account:

I'm just glad the front facade of the main terminal building no longer looks like a Soviet weapons warehouse. 

The new temporary overlook opened yesterday...the trusses for the canopy are so massive you can see them from the overlook in the distance. 

 

[Norm2]

Does the new overlook still have a view of Upton?

[JRCLT]

Close up of the installed trusses, courtesy of the CLT Twitter account:
http://content.invisioncic.com/x329420/monthly_2022_10/image.thumb.png.af71f4bd296b7840c4f6f7e43c0eb8e0.png
http://content.invisioncic.com/x329420/monthly_2022_10/image.thumb.png.873c8291b05e2e5fc656effde4fb8ddd.png
http://content.invisioncic.com/x329420/monthly_2022_10/image.thumb.png.fd89ef75352b67d32abb7a0f80d67ca1.png
I'm just glad the front facade of the main terminal building no longer looks like a Soviet weapons warehouse. 
The new temporary overlook opened yesterday...the trusses for the canopy are so massive you can see them from the overlook in the distance. 
 

Beautiful Trusses!!

[CltFlyer]

Per the Southwest schedule extension today.  Charlotte to Houston-Hobby will resume on April 9th, 2023.  Sundays only.

Unfortunately, no other changes to report from the previous extension.  Southwest has been very slow at rebuilding to pre-pandemic levels, but this makes the return of all of our pre-pandemic destinations plus Denver and St Louis.

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

11 hours ago, CltFlyer said:

Per the Southwest schedule extension today.  Charlotte to Houston-Hobby will resume on April 9th, 2023.  Sundays only.

Unfortunately, no other changes to report from the previous extension.  Southwest has been very slow at rebuilding to pre-pandemic levels, but this makes the return of all of our pre-pandemic destinations plus Denver and St Louis.

From a buddy who works at DEN, the Charlotte flight will start as a winter seasonal flight (assuming as a ski destination).

[CltFlyer]

15 minutes ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

From a buddy who works at DEN, the Charlotte flight will start as a winter seasonal flight (assuming as a ski destination).

DEN was daily year round during  the pandemic.  It is coming back on November 12th Saturday only and then switches to Sunday only through the end of the bookable schedule (July 10th).  It's certainly not winter seasonal.  I imagine it goes back to daily within the next year or so.  

[LKN704]

Southwest has really been hurt by the lack of 737 MAX 7 certification. 

I'm sure they would probably like to operate CLT-DEN/HOU daily, they just don't have the planes to do so at present. 

[tozmervo]

Finally had a chance to fly out of LGA's new terminal B. Talk about a night-and-day difference. It was practically a pleasant experience, and all it took was $4 billion and completely demolishing the old terminal and concourses.  Hopefully the replacement for EWR's hellscape of terminal A will be opening in the next few months. 

[Reverie39]

Has anyone ever had a pleasant experience at EWR?

[kermit]

3 hours ago, Reverie39 said:

Has anyone ever had a pleasant experience at EWR?

I had a really nice layover inside Terminal C where I fed birds Dorito crumbs at my gate while waiting for my United puddle jumper to Halifax. Pretty sure I saw a racoon in the terminal but can't be positive.

Edited October 31, 2022 by kermit

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

On 10/28/2022 at 12:22 AM, CltFlyer said:

DEN was daily year round during  the pandemic.  It is coming back on November 12th Saturday only and then switches to Sunday only through the end of the bookable schedule (July 10th).  It's certainly not winter seasonal.  I imagine it goes back to daily within the next year or so.  

Well I would still consider a Saturday only flight through mid winter and then a Sunday to July to be seasonal. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by CarolinaDaydreamin

[LKN704]

6 hours ago, Reverie39 said:

Has anyone ever had a pleasant experience at EWR?

It's only one small part of the airport, but the concourse that was part of Continental's "Global Gateway" project that opened in the early 2000s is quite nice...more spacious and open than any of AA's facilities in CLT.

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

9 minutes ago, LKN704 said:

It's only one small part of the airport, but the concourse that was part of Continental's "Global Gateway" project that opened in the early 2000s is quite nice...more spacious and open than any of AA's facilities in CLT.

The security situation at EWR is HEINOUS. TSA Pre took me 70min last summer in the Delta terminal. Was a decent Sky Club with a cool NYC skyline view, however.

Edited October 31, 2022 by CarolinaDaydreamin

[xapostrophe]

14 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

The security situation at EWR is HEINOUS. TSA Pre took me 70min last summer in the Delta terminal. Was a decent Sky Club with a cool NYC skyline view, however.

The old spoke style terminals are a disaster.  It's like they left them that way to discourage people from traveling through their airport.  Every flight I've operated out of there we left passengers being because of the TSA situation.  

[tozmervo]

17 hours ago, LKN704 said:

It's only one small part of the airport, but the concourse that was part of Continental's "Global Gateway" project that opened in the early 2000s is quite nice...more spacious and open than any of AA's facilities in CLT.

It's more open, but TBH I don't even like that terminal. For as much land as it covers, its design still makes it feel overly congested. Plunking down random bars and eateries down in the middle of the circulation paths was a terrible move, and the hall connecting the concourses is ridiculous with ten thousand circulation paths crossing over each other. I also hate their food/drink ordering system. They took the worst aspects of table service and jammed it up with the worst aspects of order at the counter, quadrupled the price, and declared themselves the "foodie airport"? wtf? 

[Reverie39]

17 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

The security situation at EWR is HEINOUS. TSA Pre took me 70min last summer in the Delta terminal. Was a decent Sky Club with a cool NYC skyline view, however.

The view of Manhattan from parts of EWR is so incredible that it almost makes up for how badly the airport functions.

[KJHburg]

@SycamoreBrewing
 opens location on Concourse E at 
@CLTAirport
. "The 1,828-square-foot casual concept serves wine and a variety of appetizers, pizza, salads, handhelds and entrée selections. The concept will also offer breakfast daily until 10 a.m."

from Twitter today 

[allthingsplanes]

I picked up my mom at the airport on Wednesday evening.  She flew in on Southwest.  She's older now so she doesn't walk tremendously fast, and obviously had a long walk to get from the gate to the terminal.   Even after all of that time, when we walked down to the A baggage carousel, we still waited about 30 minutes until the bags came out.  Does anyone know why it is taking so long?  Are they short staffed or is it the renovations?

[InSouthPark]

35 minutes ago, allthingsplanes said:

I picked up my mom at the airport on Wednesday evening.  She flew in on Southwest.  She's older now so she doesn't walk tremendously fast, and obviously had a long walk to get from the gate to the terminal.   Even after all of that time, when we walked down to the A baggage carousel, we still waited about 30 minutes until the bags came out.  Does anyone know why it is taking so long?  Are they short staffed or is it the renovations?

Some of the luggage carousels are closed and they have like 4-5 flights using the same few open ones at one time.  You can't see it, but they unload one planes luggage fully, then start on the next one.  So bags might be there sitting forever until its their "turn" to go do down the belt.

I have been through a lot of airports, and I can't think of any that have a smaller baggage claim area than Charlotte does for a city of this size.  I'm sure when all the reno's are done it will be bigger but damn. 

[KJHburg]

Transferring bags I have been told have higher priority as the same people who do it for American and their hub do it for all the other airlines.  So local baggage always takes longer and I always marvel where else I go how quick I get my bags compared to Charlotte.  The key is just don't rush for sure down there as there is no need at CLT.  

Isn't more luggage belts part of the expansion I thought it was.  

[CltFlyer]

Spirit adding 2 more routes on 4/12/23!

Dallas/Ft Worth and Nashville.  This will put them up to 9 daily flights.  (2 flights to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale)

https://amp.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article268513397.html

[navigator319]

37 minutes ago, CltFlyer said:

Spirit adding 2 more routes on 4/12/23!

Dallas/Ft Worth and Nashville.  This will put them up to 9 daily flights.  (2 flights to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale)

https://amp.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article268513397.html

Hope all their routs workout and the JetBlue merger happens as will have the Jetblue product here in 2/3 years with some significance 

[CLT2014]

6 minutes ago, navigator319 said:

Hope all their routs workout and the JetBlue merger happens as will have the Jetblue product here in 2/3 years with some significance 

The JetBlue merger absolutely means a lot of these random Spirit routes from Charlotte (and nationwide) will get cut. JetBlue doesn't want Spirit for its point-to-point route network to offer low cost fares once per day on a route... they've been very public about saying it is about getting the planes and the crew ASAP to strengthen their more traditional hub-spoke model against larger carriers. Charlotte - Fort Lauderdale will probably stay (also a big JetBlue hub), but random routes like CLT - DFW, CLT-BNA, CLT-LAS, et... will probably be cut to redeploy those aircraft to strengthening the JetBlue hubs in BOS, JFK, FLL, LAX, and MCO as well as offering more than 1 flight per day on key strategic routes. JetBlue has said the 1x per day point-to-point flying Spirit does is going bye bye after they integrate. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by CLT2014