Gang - I'm curious. I believe that a domestic 777 flight from say EWR to SFO could arrive at one of the International G gates at SFO. I'm assuming they just route you through the main concourse instead of through customs. At least it appears that way from United's flight status page on their website. But could a domestic flight ever leave from an International Gate. Or would that require people passing through security to have to have passports instead of a normal ID, and therefore not be practical.

Yep, they do all the time. Jetblue operates exclusively in the SFO international terminal.

Yes UA domestic flights do arrive and depart from G on occasion. Nothing complex about it. Arrivals deplane into the departure area.

UA will soon start utilizing A gates as well for overflow domestic ops.

I have left from a gate in G to KOA a couple of times. Both times the inbound flight, a 737, was coming from Mexico, I think.

im guessing you're flying on the 77W. That flight is most likely continuing to Asia. Since you're flying domestic, you'll just walk through the terminal.

Like the above post, Jetblue and a few other domestic airlines fly out of the international terminal.

I departed on a SFO- DFW flight from G93 IIRC . Kinda funny looking out my window of an A319
and see B744's on either side of us.

richiemo wrote:

But could a domestic flight ever leave from an International Gate. Or would that require people passing through security to have to have passports instead of a normal ID, and therefore not be practical.

There's no requirement to have a passport to pass through security in the U.S. when departing on an international flight. Travelers are not required to clear passport control when departing the U.S., although airlines generally check passports (and visas when applicable) at check-in or the departure gate in order to avoid penalties and/or the cost of returning the passenger if they are refused entry upon arrival due to not having the required documentation.

Domestic flights depart from "international gates" all the time -- B6 wants gates in one of ATL's international concourses because the domestic concourse with available gates isn't nice enough.

UA has many narrowbody flights to Mexico in the international terminal. These often turn to domestic destinations after arrival from Mexico. There are also often widebody domestic turn flights. Not uncommon at all to arrive/depart from the international terminal on UA when flying domestically.

As mentioned, B6 (and AS) use the international terminal for most flights as well.

If there is an open gate, it will be used. Airport charges the airlines for the use, make no money sitting empty.

richiemo wrote:

Gang - I'm curious. I believe that a domestic 777 flight from say EWR to SFO could arrive at one of the International G gates at SFO. I'm assuming they just route you through the main concourse instead of through customs. At least it appears that way from United's flight status page on their website. But could a domestic flight ever leave from an International Gate. Or would that require people passing through security to have to have passports instead of a normal ID, and therefore not be practical.

The US is "the land of the free to leave...". There is no government requirement to check passports to leave the country.
As such there is no passport control and no "no-mans land" zone in US airports. You are in the US and free to exit the terminal until you boarded and the airplane pushed back.
This leads to the following:
-> departure gates can be used for both international and domestic departures.
-> There is no sterile transit zone - all connecting passengers must clear immigration even if they are not entering the US
-> Duty free is delivered to the airplane
-> International arrival gates can be isolated from the terminal so passengers are routed to the immigration hall.

dlphoenix wrote:

The US is "the land of the free to leave...". There is no government requirement to check passports to leave the country.

Actually, I don't believe the U.S. has a requirement to check ANY document of identification for leaving the country. I can get on a boat and sail away, or walk out/ drive across the boarder and no one on the U.S. side will care. Airlines do have a requirement to check identification for getting on a plane, but that is true whether it is a domestic or international flight.

LAXintl wrote:

UA will soon start utilizing A gates as well for overflow domestic ops.

Wow. What a mess that will be. SFO is clearly about to get even uglier as they are short on gate space with T1 under construction, AS figuring out their long term plan and UA growing quickly to fend them off. Not to mention all the added intl service.

rwsea wrote:

UA has many narrowbody flights to Mexico in the international terminal. These often turn to domestic destinations after arrival from Mexico. There are also often widebody domestic turn flights. Not uncommon at all to arrive/depart from the international terminal on UA when flying domestically.

As mentioned, B6 (and AS) use the international terminal for most flights as well.

HA has used the "A" gates for many years now.

Here is some information of UA using the A Gates at SFO.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... te-440258/

Remember when the UAX flights left from Terminal 1 a few years back? That was a fun time (cool to ride the bus across the tarmac, great views). If they are using the gates for primarily arrivals, have to assume they are trying to prioritize the flights with the most amount of passengers terminating in SF.

If it can be arrange, they should park international inbounds to A if the plane is terminating and not turning back out. Minimize the trouble for connecting passengers from domestic to international.

hoo8myryce wrote:

If it can be arrange, they should park international inbounds to A if the plane is terminating and not turning back out. Minimize the trouble for connecting passengers from domestic to international.

Agreed. I cannot count how many days this summer NH and SQ have been delayed 1+ hour on the ground due to the UA arrivals from 7-9 AM squatting on all the G gates.

Arrived on UA from FRA and connected to SAN using G gates from 744 to A320 2 months ago, so yep, UA uses international for domestic all the time despite added gates where American used to operate.

airbazar wrote:

dlphoenix wrote:

The US is "the land of the free to leave...". There is no government requirement to check passports to leave the country.

Actually, I don't believe the U.S. has a requirement to check ANY document of identification for leaving the country. I can get on a boat and sail away, or walk out/ drive across the boarder and no one on the U.S. side will care. Airlines do have a requirement to check identification for getting on a plane, but that is true whether it is a domestic or international flight.

Agree with the first part of the statement - as far as the US government is concerned you are free to leave, you can walk, drive, or sail across the border, no problem.
As far as airline policies:

• In most cases you will not be required to present an ID to an airline employee to board a flight - they will trust the TSA to verify your identity before you make it to the gate.
• They will check your passport when you board an international flight because the destination government requires them to verify you are eligible to enter the country.

Happy Travels
DLP

dlphoenix wrote:

airbazar wrote:

dlphoenix wrote:

The US is "the land of the free to leave...". There is no government requirement to check passports to leave the country.

Actually, I don't believe the U.S. has a requirement to check ANY document of identification for leaving the country. I can get on a boat and sail away, or walk out/ drive across the boarder and no one on the U.S. side will care. Airlines do have a requirement to check identification for getting on a plane, but that is true whether it is a domestic or international flight.

Agree with the first part of the statement - as far as the US government is concerned you are free to leave, you can walk, drive, or sail across the border, no problem.
As far as airline policies:

• In most cases you will not be required to present an ID to an airline employee to board a flight - they will trust the TSA to verify your identity before you make it to the gate.
• They will check your passport when you board an international flight because the destination government requires them to verify you are eligible to enter the country.

Happy Travels
DLP

CBP does get the departure information from passengers exiting the US through the airline's passenger manifest IIRC. So there is an exit control, but one that doesn't involve the passenger personally like e.g. exit immigration. Departure records for international flights were gathered differently like a decade ago, as in e.g. turning over what you kept from your I-94W (for VWP travelers) on departure, which is no longer the case since ESTA (no idea how it was for those who are not in the VWP). Correct me if I'm wrong though.

airbazar wrote:

dlphoenix wrote:

The US is "the land of the free to leave...". There is no government requirement to check passports to leave the country.

Actually, I don't believe the U.S. has a requirement to check ANY document of identification for leaving the country. I can get on a boat and sail away, or walk out/ drive across the boarder and no one on the U.S. side will care. Airlines do have a requirement to check identification for getting on a plane, but that is true whether it is a domestic or international flight.

Well, if you get on a cruise ship that will stop in another country, you must present a passport to board.

TVNWZ wrote:

airbazar wrote:

dlphoenix wrote:

The US is "the land of the free to leave...". There is no government requirement to check passports to leave the country.

Actually, I don't believe the U.S. has a requirement to check ANY document of identification for leaving the country. I can get on a boat and sail away, or walk out/ drive across the boarder and no one on the U.S. side will care. Airlines do have a requirement to check identification for getting on a plane, but that is true whether it is a domestic or international flight.

Well, if you get on a cruise ship that will stop in another country, you must present a passport to board.

Right because the cruise operator wants to ensure you can get back in the US when you return.

Flew on UA497 on a 77W EWR-SFO we arrived into gate G95 in the international terminal, our aircraft (N2138U) then carried on to HKG.

LTU932 wrote:

dlphoenix wrote:

airbazar wrote:

Actually, I don't believe the U.S. has a requirement to check ANY document of identification for leaving the country. I can get on a boat and sail away, or walk out/ drive across the boarder and no one on the U.S. side will care. Airlines do have a requirement to check identification for getting on a plane, but that is true whether it is a domestic or international flight.

Agree with the first part of the statement - as far as the US government is concerned you are free to leave, you can walk, drive, or sail across the border, no problem.
As far as airline policies:

• In most cases you will not be required to present an ID to an airline employee to board a flight - they will trust the TSA to verify your identity before you make it to the gate.
• They will check your passport when you board an international flight because the destination government requires them to verify you are eligible to enter the country.

Happy Travels
DLP

CBP does get the departure information from passengers exiting the US through the airline's passenger manifest IIRC. So there is an exit control, but one that doesn't involve the passenger personally like e.g. exit immigration. Departure records for international flights were gathered differently like a decade ago, as in e.g. turning over what you kept from your I-94W (for VWP travelers) on departure, which is no longer the case since ESTA (no idea how it was for those who are not in the VWP). Correct me if I'm wrong though.

Yes you are correct. Airlines report departing international passengers. Airlines also must check your passport and match the name on it with their person traveling for international flights.

UA is the only operator that can utilize the international terminal for domestic growth. Domestic carriers operating out of international will have continued growth opportunities as far as gate availability. All other carriers can use international but since those gates would be very far away from their current their current gates it will mean operational costs will be higher. The passenger inconvenience for split operations will hurt revenue. There will be passengers who will choose competing carriers over those with such a split since during booking there will be no indication if that flight operates out of international. I do not seen any airlines making that split because the financial justifications would be weak if there are any positive financial justifications. The outlier is WN but that is primally because their current gates are fairly close to international A.

theasianguy wrote:

hoo8myryce wrote:

If it can be arrange, they should park international inbounds to A if the plane is terminating and not turning back out. Minimize the trouble for connecting passengers from domestic to international.

Agreed. I cannot count how many days this summer NH and SQ have been delayed 1+ hour on the ground due to the UA arrivals from 7-9 AM squatting on all the G gates.

Define squatting. I have to imagine every airport has rules about gate utilization for Common use gates.