Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[ScottCLT]

This is not related directly to CLT necessarily, but points of what is to come regarding the AA lounges. I stopped in Phoenix last week and the Admiral's club in the concourse I was in had been remodeled - everything was upgraded. Furniture, decor, outlets at nearly every seat with both USB and AC plugs. Overall a much more modern feel (and the Asian chicken noodle soup - AWESOME...even though it probably is premade). The main lounge at CLT is spacious and still nice - probably the best former US lounge out there that I've been to. But is a bit worn from the years of use. Looking forward to updates that should be headed to the CLT lounges in the near future as AA continues to upgrade their lounges.

[LKN704]

I believe that both clubs will be renovated in the very near future, and I believe that the C/D club will also receive showers. Still waiting for a club room in E, which will probably relieve some of the crowding at the C/D club at peak times.

On an unrelated note, I didn't know that both Turkish AND Qatar announced ATL. I wonder what market they are going after for in ATL. Not that it means anything, but Qatar has a really nice info page for Charlotte on their website: http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/destinations/flights-to-charlotte.page

Edited February 10, 2016 by LKN704

[Deleted.]

Traffic record broken by 600,000 passengers. 44.9 million travelers passed through CLT in 2015.

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/Airport/News/Pages/CLTBreaksPassengerTrafficRecordWelcomes44-9MillionTravelersin2015.aspx

Edited February 11, 2016 by Piedmont767
SPELLING

[CLTaviation13]

Not to be that nick picky guy. But in the section of new nonstops routes for AA. We've had service from CLT-Portland, Maine flight for years now. At least the one daily A319, although I think it's 2 daily now with a crj 900

Amazing stuff coming out of CLT as usual. Hope to see the number increase with frontier adding more lift out of here, United up gauging some flights and American doing its thing!:)

[Deleted.]

Well, today's AA announcement about expanding lounges, new clubs and renovations was very disappointing for CLT. 

http://www.aa.com/i18n/airportAndLounge/reimagining-lounges.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=loungeupdates 

AA is expanding Flagship Lounge access to Business class passengers, so as a result DFW, PHL and MIA are all getting Flagship Lounges! Which just leaves CLT and PHX as the only AA hubs without Flagship Lounges- this makes me think that CLT international operations will be further scaled down after this summer season. The announcement also includes information about renovating existing clubs- CLT isn't on the list- and building new clubs- again CLT isn't on the list- so I don't expect a new club to be built on E. 

This is just further proof that CLT isn't that important to AA and that I was very naive thinking this merger would be good for CLT.

[ssh214]

16 minutes ago, Piedmont767 said:

Well, today's AA announcement about expanding lounges, new clubs and renovations was very disappointing for CLT. 

http://www.aa.com/i18n/airportAndLounge/reimagining-lounges.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=loungeupdates 

AA is expanding Flagship Lounge access to Business class passengers, so as a result DFW, PHL and MIA are all getting Flagship Lounges! Which just leaves CLT and PHX as the only AA hubs without Flagship Lounges- this makes me think that CLT international operations will be further scaled down after this summer season. The announcement also includes information about renovating existing clubs- CLT isn't on the list- and building new clubs- again CLT isn't on the list- so I don't expect a new club to be built on E. 

This is just further proof that CLT isn't that important to AA and that I was very naive thinking this merger would be good for CLT.

I wouldn't be too concerned about it, they'll probably announce it in the next round... When it comes to these things Charlotte has always been the last to receive, but I wouldn't take it as an indicator of anything bad about to happen, just the reality of the situation that the bigger hub cities will get the "shinier" things first. They're not gonna mess with something that's the most profitable asset for them

[LKN704]

Yeah I saw that press release. Very disappointing, IMHO. Then again, CLT only has three flights during the Winter season featuring International Business class. AA probably figured that those three flights couldn't justify the cost of building an additional lounge in CLT. I don't think it means doom and gloom. It just shows how domestic focused our hub is, compared to most other airline's fortress hubs, maybe except for DEN or SLC. Even MSP and DTW have a good number of transoceanic flights.

That said, I am surprised there was no talk of refurbishing existing clubs or building another club in E. However, a couple years back when AA renovated DFW's terminals and refurbished their clubs there, they seemed to announce both together, like a "Transforming DFW press release". Maybe they will do that to CLT?

[Deleted.]

5 minutes ago, LKN704 said:

Yeah I saw that press release. Very disappointing, IMHO. Then again, CLT only has three flights during the Winter season featuring International Business class. AA probably figured that those three flights couldn't justify the cost of building an additional lounge in CLT. I don't think it means doom and gloom. It just shows how domestic focused our hub is, compared to most other airline's fortress hubs, maybe except for DEN or SLC. Even MSP and DTW have a good number of transoceanic flights.

That said, I am surprised there was no talk of refurbishing existing clubs or building another club in E. However, a couple years back when AA renovated DFW's terminals and refurbished their clubs there, they seemed to announce both together, like a "Transforming DFW press release". Maybe they will do that to CLT?

We're supposedly getting up to 3 additional flights go year-round: DUB, CDG and MAD- so that could be 6 in the winter and 8 in the summer. ORD only gets IIRC 6 trans-oceanic flights and they have a Flagship Lounge, so I don't see why we couldn't get a small Flagship Lounge- why not use the old D Club space? As for refurbs and other things, why are we last?! We are AA's second busiest and one of the most profitable hubs. 

In other news, Lufthansa is basing their first A350s in MUC and sending them to BOS and DEL which are currently operated on A330s like CLT, maybe we see the A350 here!

[15895]

35 minutes ago, Piedmont767 said:

Well, today's AA announcement about expanding lounges, new clubs and renovations was very disappointing for CLT. 

http://www.aa.com/i18n/airportAndLounge/reimagining-lounges.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=loungeupdates 

AA is expanding Flagship Lounge access to Business class passengers, so as a result DFW, PHL and MIA are all getting Flagship Lounges! Which just leaves CLT and PHX as the only AA hubs without Flagship Lounges- this makes me think that CLT international operations will be further scaled down after this summer season. The announcement also includes information about renovating existing clubs- CLT isn't on the list- and building new clubs- again CLT isn't on the list- so I don't expect a new club to be built on E. 

This is just further proof that CLT isn't that important to AA and that I was very naive thinking this merger would be good for CLT.

 

Woah! Way overblown. American has been greater to Charlotte so far than US Airways could've ever been. We lost a few seasonal shiny routes (that would've been lost anyway) but we've added daily flights to multiple American Airlines cities.

 

The merger has been excellent for Charlotte

[CLT2014]

Lounges are a tool to win business from competitors and make more money. AA doesn't have any competition in CLT, so they don't have any incentive to prioritize building more lounge offerings here. They are already printing money in CLT. Are they going to print even MORE money by adding a Flagship lounge? I don't think so... because you probably were already going to fly AA. LAX, ORD, MIA, DFW, JFK, etc... AA is facing TOUGH competition from foreign airlines and UA/DL so they NEED to have these lounge offerings. In CLT, they are the only game in town. It isn't like US Airways would have built a "flagship" lounge either... they knew they owned this hub. 

I would take it as a compliment that AA is performing well here, but also a sad reflection that they own the airport and could do whatever they wanted and would still own most of the share.

Edited February 17, 2016 by CLT2014

[Deleted.]

15 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

 

Woah! Way overblown. American has been greater to Charlotte so far than US Airways could've ever been. We lost a few seasonal shiny routes (that would've been lost anyway) but we've added daily flights to multiple American Airlines cities.

 

The merger has been excellent for Charlotte

Please show me where this merger has been good for CLT, except for a few sh**ty 1 daily flights on regional jets to the Midwest and 1 extra flight to London (which actually isn't that good because it just replaced the 2nd daily flight to Frankfurt). 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Piedmont767

[kermit]

ummm, we do now have a strong and globally competitive airline with one of the most extensive route networks in the world serving Charlotte instead of a glorified regional / pseudo-low cost carrier that had a thinner route network than every other major carrier.

but other than that.....

Edited February 17, 2016 by kermit

[CLTaviation13]

Let's be honest. That 2nd FRA flight only operated from March ish-October if I remember. Since then LHR has been 2 daily or at least 10 weekly in the winter. The chance that MAD will go year would have never happened if US and AA didn't join forces.  All those RJ adds are necessary to create more feed. At least they weren't a bunch of CRJ 200 adds. A lot of CRJ 900 flying, which isn't bad at all.

On a smaller note I think it's absolutely pathetic that BA isn't in CLT. That's just me though.

[15895]

51 minutes ago, Piedmont767 said:

Please show me where this merger has been good for CLT, except for a few sh**ty 1 daily flights on regional jets to the Midwest and 1 extra flight to London (which actually isn't that good because it just replaced the 2nd daily flight to Frankfurt). 

 

If you fell for the carrot of Brussels, Lisbon & Amsterdam, that's on you. Clearly it was a ploy to get support for the merger. 

 

Meanwhile, everything lost has been more than made up for 

 

[CLTaviation13]

Manchester, not Amsterdam. Although that would've been nice!

[Deleted.]

1 hour ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

 

If you fell for the carrot of Brussels, Lisbon & Amsterdam, that's on you. Clearly it was a ploy to get support for the merger. 

 

Meanwhile, everything lost has been more than made up for 

 

We are obviously going to disagree on the merger. From an employee point of view, I don't think the merger has been good for CLT because CLT is no longer the most important hub and has got less attention. Apart from 2x daily LHR and aircraft up gauges on international to Europe, I don't think CLT is any better off. 

[CLT2014]

Haven't US Airways employees been one of the groups that have benefited from the merger? My neighbor across the street said things aren't perfect, but he has seen his pay go up at AA. US Airways never integrated their work force and kept wages below industry norms. The pay raises to AA employees in Charlotte will do far more for the city than a route to Brazil which nobody in Charlotte took anyhow. These employees will have more spending power in Charlotte.

Senior gate agents saw their salary increase by $1,200 per month going from the US Airways contract to the American contract. Their pay goes from ~$47,000 to ~$62,000 per year. 

US Airways pilots have seen there wages increase about 23% and flight attendants are getting ~14% raises. In 2014 American awarded 4% raises to all employees. 

So unless I'm missing something, shouldn't life for US Airways employees be better at American who is moving to lead the industry in salaries compared to US Airways? I would rather have Charlotte be the second largest hub for a very good airline than the largest hub for the Walmart of major airlines. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by CLT2014

[Deleted.]

Just now, CLT2014 said:

Haven't US Airways employees been one of the groups that have benefited from the merger? My neighbor across the street and over one said things aren't perfect, but he has seen his pay go up at AA. US Airways never integrated their work force and kept wages below industry norms. The pay raises to AA employees in Charlotte will do far more for the city than a route to Brazil which nobody in Charlotte took anyhow. These employees will have more spending power in Charlotte.

Senior gate agents saw their salary increase by $1,200 per month going from the US Airways contract to the American contract. Their pay goes from ~$47,000 to ~$62,000 per year. 

US Airways pilots have seen there wages increase about 23% and flight attendants are getting ~14% raises. In 2014 American awarded 4% raises to all employees. 

So unless I'm missing something, shouldn't life for US Airways employees be better at American who is moving to lead the industry in salaries compared to US Airways?

Oh yeah, its been good for me. But for CLT as a whole I don't think the merger has been good- less international options, higher fares, worse customer experience, less focus on CLT etc.

[LKN704]

So there is an article in the CO about lounge updates at CLT yet there isn't anything in the AA press release. Fishy.

3 hours ago, Piedmont767 said:

We're supposedly getting up to 3 additional flights go year-round: DUB, CDG and MAD- so that could be 6 in the winter and 8 in the summer. ORD only gets IIRC 6 trans-oceanic flights and they have a Flagship Lounge, so I don't see why we couldn't get a small Flagship Lounge- why not use the old D Club space? As for refurbs and other things, why are we last?! We are AA's second busiest and one of the most profitable hubs. 

In other news, Lufthansa is basing their first A350s in MUC and sending them to BOS and DEL which are currently operated on A330s like CLT, maybe we see the A350 here!

Have you heard that from someone in management or is that just galley gossip? I don't buy it that all three are going year round. CDG I can see because CLT had year round service to Paris before, and MAD makes sense because it is a Oneworld hub. DUB will also be a oneworld hub but every connection you can make at DUB you can make at LHR.

Don't count on the A350 being here. I think one of the contracts on the route now requires F class, and the A350s don't have it, only J/Y+/Y.

[cltcane]

2 hours ago, Piedmont767 said:

Oh yeah, its been good for me. But for CLT as a whole I don't think the merger has been good- less international options, higher fares, worse customer experience, less focus on CLT etc.

I can vouch for the decline in customer service.  I'm AA Platinum and flew almost 70,000 miles on AA last year, and I routinely get treated like I've flown once in the last seven years.  I'm not a picky or entitled person, but I've had to send an email to Customer Relations to complain about HORRIBLE service five times since January.  I was recently told to "sit down and be quiet" by a first class FA when I asked her a basic question while boarding.  Unless you're Executive Platinum, you're nothing to the new AA.

EDIT: Oh, and I've only gotten form letters back from AA.  Not a single apology, just basically something to the effect of "Uncontrollable things happen, and we hope you keep flying us".  Not for very much longer.

Edited February 17, 2016 by cltcane

[Silicon Dogwoods]

9 hours ago, Piedmont767 said:

Please show me where this merger has been good for CLT, except for a few sh**ty 1 daily flights on regional jets to the Midwest and 1 extra flight to London (which actually isn't that good because it just replaced the 2nd daily flight to Frankfurt). 

CLT continues to grow, although we will soon be passed by the vacation destinations of Las Vegas and Orlando (LAS and MCO, if you will.) A metro of fewer than 3 million people welcomes almost 45 million annually. We are by far the smallest metro hub in the country. Our service far outweighs our size. CLT continues to punch above its weight and so Charlotte punches above its weight. I am thankful for this every day.

The airport facility is being dramatically expanded and remodeled, all at the behest of AA no doubt. Would I love Detroit's Delta terminal? Of course! But not really important to look that gorgeous.

Would I love for us to have Atlanta's level of international service? Of course! But I'm thrilled with what we have. If Charlotte continues on its present path as I think it will, more international service will come in time.

The US-AA merger has so far worked out wonderfully well for Charlotte and CLT. It could have been far, far worse. Over the last 25 years, CLT has dodged a bullet again and again and again. Things have turned out better than ok. We've been very, very lucky. 

 

10 hours ago, Piedmont767 said:

Well, today's AA announcement about expanding lounges, new clubs and renovations was very disappointing for CLT. 

http://www.aa.com/i18n/airportAndLounge/reimagining-lounges.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=loungeupdates 

AA is expanding Flagship Lounge access to Business class passengers, so as a result DFW, PHL and MIA are all getting Flagship Lounges! Which just leaves CLT and PHX as the only AA hubs without Flagship Lounges- this makes me think that CLT international operations will be further scaled down after this summer season. The announcement also includes information about renovating existing clubs- CLT isn't on the list- and building new clubs- again CLT isn't on the list- so I don't expect a new club to be built on E. 

This is just further proof that CLT isn't that important to AA and that I was very naive thinking this merger would be good for CLT.

CLT is the most profitable hub in the AA network. We're very important to AA.

Stop hanging out on airliners.net.

[Silicon Dogwoods]

As far as customer service goes...

Without revealing too much, I had an issue with ticketing back in December when I flew CLT-SFO. The customer service was pretty responsive and the legacy AA employee was just pitch perfect.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Silicon Dogwoods

[USAir767]

According to this, it looks like Southwest will add a flight to Nashville. 

 

 

[tozmervo]

Oh thank god, it might actually become cheap enough for me to fly home instead of drive. 

[navigator319]

Anyone know how the London CLT flights are doing?  I was on the 1:20p from London to CLT on Tuesday and at most the plane was 40% full.  It was great for me I had a whole middle section of 4 seats to my self to lay out.

Customs in CLT was literally no more than 5min of time at about 6:30p.  Baggage claim on the other hand was less than ideal.  25/30 minutes for the bags to come out