I recently traveled from MKE-ORH on US Airways Express. This necessitated a change in Philadelphia. Obviously US Airways Express plays a large role in feeding this facility. What I found inconvienient and baffling was being bussed from my arriving aircraft to the terminal, leaving the terminal from the same gate I just walked through, getting on another bus, and being transported back to approximately where I started from. Is this arrangement temporary, or has this system always been in place? This way of transporting passengers about certainly will be a big determining factor if I take this airline on this route again.

I do believe this is the way it always was, and I think they intend to continue to use this method in PHL. They do it in DCA as well. I don't mind the bussing so much as how crowded the gate area gets, since it deals with too many simultaneous flights through one doorway.

The PHL problem with regard to using Express is the general ineptitude of the operation. As an example, typically when there is a late arrival, and every second counts in making the connect, they don't even know you're there. The only thing worse than those buses is NO buses, and thats what happens regularly. The lights may be on at USE, but clearly, nobody's home!

Go through PIT. No bus, and you might even be lucky enough to avoid the tram as some Express flights now end up in the A concourse rather than the Express one.

As they say, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Philadelphia". The things that don't make sense about this hub, including many that work there, just keep adding up. Avoid Philly. Use PIT or CLT.

I hope this inconvenience goes away when the new regional terminal F opens.

Jay

Good point about the PHL staff, too. At least my experiences at DCA seem to indicate that the people operating that cramped Express gate actually care about getting passengers in and out as smoothly as possible, given the current setup.

The buses will just go to a new form when the new Terminal F opens (will handle all US Airways Express ops for those of you who don't know).

US Airways operates from B, C, and to a lesser extent A (all international flights and a few oddball domestics) and D (two gates for domestic). Terminal F will be all the way over past Terminals D and E.

The walk from mainline US (B, C) to Express (F) will be looong. I'm guessing 30 minutes plus. I haven't heard anything about a train or something to get the pax to/from F. My guess is that the buses will shuttle pax between the B/C (maybe A too) terminals and F. Not unlike the old bus shuttle service that took pax to/from B/C and int'l A for US and BA transatlantic departures, prior to B/C and A having a secure throughway without leaving security (all terminals A-E now have inside-security transfers; well, in any event, A-D definitely do).

If you arrive on one Express flight and connect with another, the new terminal F will suit you fine. If you have to go between mainline service and express, then the bus will be your best bet. It'll be similar to getting from the A/B terminals of PIT to the E terminal, just without the train.

I believe the F terminal will be opening any day now.

Here's the latest and greatest on the brand-new Terminal F, scheduled to open on Sunday! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

http://www.usairways.com/travelguide/airport_terminals/phl_new_terminal.htm

I was in PHL on Monday and the terminal didn't look ready at all. Driving by the interior definitely didn't look ready.

The real benefit will be not having to bus to the individual planes; it sounds like each plane will get its own jetway. The downside is you still need to bus from C to F. More pluses include a clubroom and what actually sounds like a nice place to wait around for your inevitably delayed flight.

The real benefit will be not having to bus to the individual planes; it sounds like each plane will get its own jetway. The downside is you still need to bus from C to F. More pluses include a clubroom and what actually sounds like a nice place to wait around for your inevitably delayed flight. It's overall a huge plus.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by aceman36:
The real benefit will be not having to bus to the individual planes; it sounds like each plane will get its own jetway. The downside is you still need to bus from C to F. More pluses include a clubroom and what actually sounds like a nice place to wait around for your inevitably delayed flight. It's overall a huge plus.</font>


The real benefit is that there will be jet bridges or whatever for 7/8s of all flights at the F terminal...

I was in PHL on Monday and the terminal didn't look ready at all. Driving by the interior definitely didn't look ready.

It's amazing what things get accomplished on a construction site in the last several days!

All regional jets will get a jetway. The props will be parked right outside their respective gate. The bus between F and B/C(and continuing onto A and the new international terminal) will be right in the middle of F, so making connections to mainline flights should be a snap.
Honestly, I don't think it will be a big deal.

It'd be nice if a tram was put in - that's something that seems to have been missed in all this expansion at PHL. It's approximately 1 mile from one end of terminal 1(new intl. terminal) to the end of terminal F!

[This message has been edited by PHL (edited 06-15-2001).]

I think the new term F will operate like the Comair term in Cincinnati