The SHOW: Airlines still a "good gig"??

[zippy]

As a regular airline passenger, I feel like airport infrastructure is more of a LIMFAC than plane quantity. Right? It feels like it would take 5 years and $100M per airport to add just 1 new terminal to each airport

United‘s new terminal in IAD. 14 gates… 7 which can hold international flights … (not even a full sized terminal) 3 years if no delays and $580mil.

UAL and AA are going in on a new international terminal in ORD… $8.5 Billion 14 years from start to planned completion and counting.

 

[MIDNJAC]

As a regular airline passenger, I feel like airport infrastructure is more of a LIMFAC than plane quantity. Right? It feels like it would take 5 years and $100M per airport to add just 1 new terminal to each airport.

You shoulda seen the TSA line at SeaTac this afternoon. Thank god i didnt get “randomed”. My little sister in law was flying on a buddy pass, and i got her to the airport just a little too late to deal with that insanity. Thankfully she somehow found a “VIP line” (her words, I have never observed such a thing) that she was entirely not entitled to be in, but she is that practical and convincing. She probably encountered a dude, who said “f it” and let her through anyway, Said it was the only reason she made it to the gate in time, and actually got on (she one of 7 on the list vying for 4 open seats)

 

[SynixMan]

As a regular airline passenger, I feel like airport infrastructure is more of a LIMFAC than plane quantity. Right? It feels like it would take 5 years and $100M per airport to add just 1 new terminal to each airport.

In a way...? But airport infrastructure in the US was severely behind from the 1990s-2000s and has only really started correcting in the 2010s once there was profitability again and then the big infrastructure bill (which mostly helps out small/medium airports but is still important). Many places did bandaids after 9/11 security requirements (Ugh, DCA) and then airlines hit the skids in the 2000s into the Great Recession.

New LaGuardia is downright nice, I just wish there was a good train from LGA into the city. T5 in ORD, also pretty good. Just went through new MSY, nice. New Memphis, nice. In ORD they spent the big first part re-doing the runways and are now on to the terminals.

And given the dispersement of folks in America, small and regional airports getting upgrades is good. The small bit of EAS flying I did, it was that small airport or drive 5-6 hours to the next biggest. Usually fantastic folks on the ground too. Like the ramp guy picks up the crews at the hotel, the gate agent also drives the de-ice truck, etc 😆

 

[Fallonflyr]

There are construction projects at every major US airports that I fly into as well.

 

[taxi1]

I just wish there was a good train from LGA into the city

I'd settle for one end of LGA to the other end of LGA.

 

[GroundPounder]

United‘s new terminal in IAD. 14 gates… 7 which can hold international flights … (not even a full sized terminal) 3 years if no delays and $580mil.

UAL and AA are going in on a new international terminal in ORD… $8.5 Billion 14 years from start to planned completion and counting.

The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the state of New York. Wikipedia
Address: 20 W 34th St., New York, NY 10001


Height: 1,250′, 1,454′ to tip CTBUH
Cost: $40,948,900; (equivalent to $661 million in 2023)
Floors: 102
Construction started: March 17, 1930
Opened: April 11, 1931




I've posted this before, but where did we go wrong? I get that things have to be done safer than they were in the 30s, and there are competing interests, but really.....

 

[robav8r]

United‘s new terminal in IAD. 14 gates… 7 which can hold international flights … (not even a full sized terminal) 3 years if no delays and $580mil.

UAL and AA are going in on a new international terminal in ORD… $8.5 Billion 14 years from start to planned completion and counting.

IAD is awesome - on a number of different levels. Just got back from a teach at Robbins AFB, flying through ATL - what a shit show of an airport. And the TSA lines and service? They act as if we should all be honored to be graced by their presence. This is the first trip where TSA offered me the new digital identity and screening - no ID's, no boarding pass, just a quick digital photo and you're on your way.

 

[taxi1]

The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the state of New York. Wikipedia
Address: 20 W 34th St., New York, NY 10001


Height: 1,250′, 1,454′ to tip CTBUH
Cost: $40,948,900; (equivalent to $661 million in 2023)
Floors: 102
Construction started: March 17, 1930
Opened: April 11, 1931




I've posted this before, but where did we go wrong? I get that things have to be done safer than they were in the 30s, and there are competing interests, but really.....

I wonder what the building systems are like in the Empire State building now, and what they were like when it was originally built. Pretty mind blowing how fast it went up.

 

[gparks1989]

I've posted this before, but where did we go wrong? I get that things have to be done safer than they were in the 30s, and there are competing interests, but really.....

European infrastructure projects cost about half as much as the costs in the United States. We are also seemingly incapable of massive projects like Crossrail or similar. It's not like Europe doesn't have sclerotic environmental and labor regulations.

That said, American airports are getting really nice. First time I got off the plane at new LGA was jarring, especially compared to how it was when I was a kid.

 

[number9]

European infrastructure projects cost about half as much as the costs in the United States. We are also seemingly incapable of massive projects like Crossrail or similar. It's not like Europe doesn't have sclerotic environmental and labor regulations.

That said, American airports are getting really nice. First time I got off the plane at new LGA was jarring, especially compared to how it was when I was a kid.

You'll love (or, really, be maddened by) this article: The Most Expensive Mile of Subway Track on Earth

 

[Flash]

European infrastructure projects cost about half as much as the costs in the United States. We are also seemingly incapable of massive projects like Crossrail or similar. It's not like Europe doesn't have sclerotic environmental and labor regulations.

We have our successes and fiascos when it comes to infrastructure, but so does Europe. One is not necessarily better than the other, with states having a lot more control over infrastructure here than most locales in Europe. The difference in infrastructure stuff getting done in Virginia versus Maryland is often pretty dramatic for example.

 

[MIDNJAC]

European infrastructure projects cost about half as much as the costs in the United States. We are also seemingly incapable of massive projects like Crossrail or similar. It's not like Europe doesn't have sclerotic environmental and labor regulations.

That said, American airports are getting really nice. First time I got off the plane at new LGA was jarring, especially compared to how it was when I was a kid.

I haven't been since the remodel, since my shop only flies to JFK and EWR, but driving past LGA on the way to the hotel, holy smokes it looks nice. I *think* JFK is nice too, but we have a weird spot in T7 that seems to have remained the same since 9/11

of note, PDX about to be fabulous. And maybe SEA, though I have my doubts that the endless terminal closures will actually result in anything, given the Port of Seattle (POS) being a POS

 

[sevenhelmet]

. And maybe SEA, though I have my doubts that the endless terminal closures will actually result in anything, given the Port of Seattle (POS) being a POS

I used to think that about LGA- it seemed to be perpetually shitty and under construction. Now it’s apparently nice, although I haven’t been there in nearly 20 years.

Another one I like as a passenger is Minneapolis. Flew through there last year and was pleasantly surprised. Very nice airport terminals, with plenty of space, and an eye toward keeping families entertained. As a father, I like that.

 

[mad dog]

I read 1967

I guessed at 1968 or 1969…fairly close.

 

[MIDNJAC]

I used to think that about LGA- it seemed to be perpetually shitty and under construction. Now it’s apparently nice, although I haven’t been there in nearly 20 years.

Another one I like as a passenger is Minneapolis. Flew through there last year and was pleasantly surprised. Very nice airport terminals, with plenty of space, and an eye toward keeping families entertained. As a father, I like that.

Another surprising one was MSY. Smaller, but pretty nice renovated terminal, some decent food options, think there is a club of some flavor there (Delta maybe?), and all the Tobasco schwag you could want to buy