diatraveler wrote:Runway765 wrote:DEN1895 wrote:
That is the end goal, but F9 doesn't want to pay for anything, they are probably looking forward to the cheaper leases on the ground load gates. I think it will be hard to fit any one else on A once UA moves in, they are taking all 6 of DL gates and 5 of F9s gates, there is not a lot of space left. I am not sure how they are even going to fit all of the current airlines on A. If AS stays at their current gate it is a fairly easy transfer from the center of C.
If F9 moves to all ground level, it should leave enough spaces for AA/DL’s operations and perhaps even AS. It will be tight, but it’ll work. I don’t think UA is taking every single gate on A west, there will still be 2-4 gates open there. I would imagine that in the super long term, WN will want C to themselves (sans the new commuter spots), so moving AS to be near AA only helps that goal.
Does this really leave Delta with enough gates on A? I don't see six available ones on A East.
They also currently utilize a wide body gate on A West.
Here is the current gate setup on A, concourse level only, no ramp level gates:
Dl: A27-A31___6 gates
F9 : A32,34,36,38,40,42,44,46,54___9 gates
AA: A48,49,50,51,53___5 gates
City/International: A33,35,37,39,41,43,45,47,52___9 gates (A52 is used almost exclusively by F9)
Future layout, again just concourse level:
UA: A14-A32, A34,36,38,40___23 gates
International: A33,35,37,39,41,43,45,47___8 gates
So remaining gates include: A42,44,46, A48-A54___10 gates compared to AA/DL current 11
With F9 moving their operations completely A is still at a deficit of gates with no room to expand at the concourse level, currently AS has one dedicated gate and access to one city gate that is used for RONs and overflow, the city gates will already be seeing increased usage from B6 and probably DL as they will no longer have access to a WB gate. The reason the commuters are moving is because in the current A East set up there is only room for 8 NB parking positions, after the commuters are moved 12-14 spots can be used. Since F9 currently has 9 gates the commuter must move to not shrink F9, if they move up to 12 or 14 gates they have some ability to grow.
I don’t think the airport expected UA to take as many gates on A as they did, the decision to move the commuter did not happen until after the lease was signed, C concourse had the end section redesigned to accommodate it. Before the pandemic I know the next set of concourse expansions were being planned due to how many gates UA and WN want along with growth from other airlines, I know F9 wanted between 12-15 gates as well.