Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[cltcane]

These new counters are similar in design to the ones in DFW's recently-renovated gate areas.  While the LCD flight displays are a big improvement over the old ones, the counters and displays feel very cheap and modular to me.  I'm afraid they're going to look worn pretty quickly.

[dcharlotte]

My issue is that you can have both.  Aesthetics and function should not be an either or.  Our airport is the only thing most people will ever see of Charlotte.  Our best foot should be put forward.  Dirty, hot, and shoddy are not things I want associated with my home town.  

Most of my friends that live in DC connect in Charlotte and  EVERY post over the summer is something to the tune of "Does this airport have AC?" while in the winter it is "this carpet is awful."

For a few cents more per passenger the city could get a long way with some simple upgrades. 

[LKN704]

The new gate areas look weird. Like the whole thing doesn't blend well with the surrounding environment...the whole counter appears to be very modular. I think it might look nice if CLT had higher ceilings so the desk didn't come up all the way to the top.

What other updates are planned for the concourses?
jus jus

[Deleted.]

Ants in the new parking deck... Great!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3196820/What-pest-Thousands-ants-infest-cars-parked-North-Carolina-airport.html

I think th countr look good but they would look better if the ceiling were higher.

[Miesian Corners]

I routinely have people tell me CLT is one of the nicest, cleanest, easiest to use airport they have ever been.

What hallucinogens are your friends doing?  I'd like some.  

While I'm happy that the people who've told you these things think our airport is good, it makes me wonder just how bad the other terminals are they've been forced to use.  Even the interim aviation director knows the current state of our airport is dismal and has called out Jerry by name for allowing the terminal to fall into its sorry state of disrepair (air conditioning and roofing being the biggest issues currently).  The a/c units on B & C concourses break down nearly once a week. The ticket agents in the main lobby threatened to stage a work action back in June when the temperature at C security reached 95F.  What was the answer for the short term? Large oscillating fans every ten feet along the baggage conveyor just behind those fancy new ticket counters. The roof over the B Concourse Admirals Club leaks every time it rains (and has on and off for the past five years).  The escalators from the concourse level to the customs hall have to be shut down every time it rains due to water pouring in from where the curved glass curtain wall meets the roof.  The elevator from baggage to ticketing at Concourse A has been inop for six months.  When I flew in from Richmond two weeks ago, both the elevator and escalator from E Concourse to the D/E connector were broken.  The poor airline agents were having to carry wheel chair passengers up and down the single narrow staircase.  All of Jerry's deferred maintenance, while it kept costs low, have come back to haunt customers, employees, airport management, and American Airlines.  The $38 million that will be spent over the next year on the existing terminal and concourses is, for the most part, going towards the physical plant.  While there will be new terrazzo floors for A, B and C concourses and new lighting, walls and ceilings, the biggest chunks of money are going to replace items as mundane as cabling, duct work, roofing, telecommunications, and HVAC.  

I could go on.  I'm there every single week.  

  

 

[kermit]

^ I agree. Take away the rocking chairs and we are honestly no better than the Laguardia Cemtral Terminal.

I only fly about 12 times a year, but every time I have been in CLT in the summer lately the AC has been out. That is inexcusiable.

[tozmervo]

I think RDF's people are getting at is something that can be easy to overlook because the airport is, aesthetically, blah. As a functioning airport, I would say that CLT is one of the easiest to navigate and deal with. If the baggage return didn't take so GD long, I would say it's one of the tops in that respect. I've been in smaller airports that take forever to navigate. Our security lines are usually pretty manageable. The wifi is decent. Especially in connecting airports, I could immediately tell you which ones pissed me off because of functionality, but I'd have to stop and think about which ones were the prettiest. 

[cltcane]

I think RDF's people are getting at is something that can be easy to overlook because the airport is, aesthetically, blah. As a functioning airport, I would say that CLT is one of the easiest to navigate and deal with. If the baggage return didn't take so GD long, I would say it's one of the tops in that respect. I've been in smaller airports that take forever to navigate. Our security lines are usually pretty manageable. The wifi is decent. Especially in connecting airports, I could immediately tell you which ones pissed me off because of functionality, but I'd have to stop and think about which ones were the prettiest. 

I will echo your complaint about the length of time it take to get checked baggage.  I rarely check a bag, but when I have to, I can stop in one of the Admirals Clubs for a snack and drink at the bar after getting off the plane and still make it to baggage claim before my priority-tagged luggage.  The airport design is convenient for passengers to connect between concourses, but a centralized baggage claim facility in the main terminal (and increasingly larger average plane sizes) means it takes longer for bags to go from the plane to baggage claim.

[HopHead]

I guess for me, I always plan to spend as little time as possible at an airport (whether it's CLT or somewhere else), so I don't get caught up in a lot of the things that some may complain about. Delta lost my luggage in Atlanta more times than I can count so I never check a bag as a result. Though the A/C issue is rather baffling to me... You'd think that's one thing that they'd have fixed. Most people that I know who connect through CLT rarely ever complain about it unless their flight is delayed. Which often times is out of control of the airport. They always enjoy the rocking chairs, Bo-Time and Bad Daddy's. And it's functional. Hopefully once all the improvements are done in the next few years, a lot of these complaints here will disappear. 

[uptownliving]

The bids have come back to replace the chillers at the airport. I expect to see this item on the agenda for the Charlotte City Council meeting August 24th. So by the end of the year I would expect for the A/C problems to be fixed.

[Miesian Corners]

The bids have come back to replace the chillers at the airport. I expect to see this item on the agenda for the Charlotte City Council meeting August 24th. So by the end of the year I would expect for the A/C problems to be fixed.

Good thing we'll have AC in time for winter. 

 

[tozmervo]

Ironically in a place as packed with people as the airport, I wouldn't doubt they have to run A/C in the winter, too

[uptownliving]

Couple of updates:

- Concourse A: The old legacy AA gates:1 will go to Delta and 1 will go to United once they get in the new jet bridges.. Also they will be re configuring it a bit to squeeze in one more gate. Expect construction to begin on this shortly.

- Contract for the $48M expanded roadway project in front of the terminal and associated pedestrian tunnels goes before City Council approval on Monday. Expect to see construction start on this by September.

- $2M contract to replace 3 vintage 1980s Chillers is before City Council approval on Monday. This can't be done soon enough!

-Runway 5/23 has a contract out for Council approval for resurfacing. Expect some taxi delays once this project starts.

Edited August 21, 2015 by uptownliving

[LKN704]

Hmm...maybe the new UA gate will allow them to launch SFO.

On an unrelated note, I saw US utilizing the ticket counters next to Lufthansa for the first time in like forever. How long have they been doing this for...is it just for International flights?

[cltcane]

Hmm...maybe the new UA gate will allow them to launch SFO.

On an unrelated note, I saw US utilizing the ticket counters next to Lufthansa for the first time in like forever. How long have they been doing this for...is it just for International flights?

Yes, the AA/US ticket counters by the D checkpoint are used for international flights.  And I've not heard anything about UA adding a SFO flight, but it wouldn't totally surprise me.  Obviously lots of Wells and BofA traffic between the two, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who (still) prefer *A on both ends.  A flight to SFO would also create a lot of one-stop options to Asia from CLT.  Plus RDU already as a non-stop to SFO on UA.

[Silicon Dogwoods]

Yes, the AA/US ticket counters by the D checkpoint are used for international flights.  And I've not heard anything about UA adding a SFO flight, but it wouldn't totally surprise me.  Obviously lots of Wells and BofA traffic between the two, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who (still) prefer *A on both ends.  A flight to SFO would also create a lot of one-stop options to Asia from CLT.  Plus RDU already as a non-stop to SFO on UA.

It would (pleasantly) surprise me. I fly CLT-SFO a handful of times a year and there are always 6 or 7 flights scheduled each day. They're usually full, but not always. The RDU-SFO flights (there are now 2, I think on a 737-800) argue against United flying CLT-SFO in my opinion. 

There's lots of Wells traffic to SFO from CLT. But I don't think there's much BofA traffic because there's not much left of BofA in San Francisco. The LOBs and BU heads are pretty much in Charlotte, Boston and New York. I don't think there's a line of business in San Francisco and if I recall correctly, that's the way Hugh McColl wanted it. But I don't work for the banks, so I could be wrong.

[Deleted.]

PHL-TLV has been cancelled, effective Jan 4 2016; freeing up 2 A330s. However there will be at least one more route cut soon. I don't know which route it is; but my guesses are either PHL-ZRH or CLT-FCO. Don't know anything solid about it, but I thought it would be a good topic for us to discuss. 

[HopHead]

I had to travel last week for the first time in a few months... A few observations at CLT:

1) The A/B connector makes such a huge difference with connecting the A concourse with the rest of the airport. It doesn't seem so detached anymore (which was part of the point I presume)

2) 1897 Market really changes the feel of main terminal area. That area of the airport doesn't feel so cheap to me now that Chili's is gone. One of the best changes in my opinion.

3) While it wasn't the hottest of weeks of the summer, I didn't even really notice a problem with the A/C in the airport. 

4) I brought some beer back from my travels so I checked my luggage (which I swore off doing on here, lol). I waited probably 5 minutes tops for it to arrive at baggage claim. Perhaps it was anomaly for me, but it was a rather busy time of the day with lots of incoming flights and arriving passengers. So was a little surprised to see that given all the complaints I've heard with how long it takes for bags to show up.

5) The drop off/pickup area is still chaotic even without the rental car shuttles there anymore. I really wish there were plans for a people mover between the main terminal and the hourly/daily decks. I almost lost a limb trying to walk to the bus.

Edited August 24, 2015 by wend28

[uptownliving]

Boyd Group International has predicted that by 2020 Charlotte will handle more passengers than Denver. In 2014 Charlotte handled about 42 Million passengers and Denver handled 52 Million. This all lines up with the Airport's imminent plans to add about 20 gates in the near term future. 

Hopefully one day we can have as beautiful a facility as Denver to handle all these millions of passengers.

[LKN704]

I guess I am confused for some reason. I thought CLT-FCO performed quite well. It was really the first European expansion city out of CLT-and has been operated by an A333 for its entire duration, almost 6 years. Recall that when US announced it, it was supposed to be a year round service.

Rumor has it that CLT-DUB will  back to a 757 next year, freeing up another A332.

Hopefully one day we can have as beautiful a facility as Denver to handle all these millions of passengers.

 LOL.

[asthasr]

When I had to travel for business, I despised Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Dulles. Almost every flight I had connected through CLT (I didn't live here at that time), and it was a paradise in comparison. I question the sanity of people who complain about any aspect of CLT if they have flown through CLE, PHL or EWR. (Also, try CXR on for size sometime.) EWR remains the only place where I have seriously considered just renting a car and driving home instead of staying in the damn airport for my layover. (If I weren't so tired from an international flight, I would have.)

[Deleted.]

United is upguaging all their flights to large regional or mainline jets. No more ERJs, the smallest aircraft will be a CRJ700 with a first class cabin, though many flights will be on 70-85 seat E-Jets. So that's good in terms of capacity. :)

http://charlotte.johnlocke.org/blog/?p=24733

[ssh214]

United is upguaging all their flights to large regional or mainline jets. No more ERJs, the smallest aircraft will be a CRJ700 with a first class cabin, though many flights will be on 70-85 seat E-Jets. So that's good in terms of capacity.

http://charlotte.johnlocke.org/blog/?p=24733

I really hope at one point soon they add flights to LAX and SFO, and I hope Delta adds flights to Seattle... That would be really nice for competition purposes...

[LKN704]

DL will not be adding flights to SEA, AS will. SFO on UA seems likely.

[cltcane]

United is upguaging all their flights to large regional or mainline jets. No more ERJs, the smallest aircraft will be a CRJ700 with a first class cabin, though many flights will be on 70-85 seat E-Jets. So that's good in terms of capacity.

http://charlotte.johnlocke.org/blog/?p=24733

That's a substantial increase in capacity - nearly 45% including the new DEN flights and over 30% on existing flights.