From the www.phl.org (http://www.phl.org) website, there's some pretty good reading on a report that was just completed.

http://www.phl.org/PHLplan.pdf

Some tidbits:

1.) New international terminal, to open in 9/02, will have 13 new gates capable of handling widebody jets. 9 are going to be preferential lease to USAirways, with the other 4 designated as 'common' gates. I suspect these, along with the existing A intl. gates, will be used to lure other intl. carriers. My prediction: Virgin, Swiss(again) or even Alitalia.

2.) 4 new gates in Terminal D just completed. AirTran will likely move from the F terminal(US Express) to these new 'D' gates.

3.) Terminal E will begin construction of 4 new gates. AA and the city are working out an agreement to consolidate their operations to A. This would relinquish their 2 inherited TWA terminal E gates, and would effectively grow their 'A' operation. (see page 51 for their breakdown in A).

The city is clearly moving away from 'exclusive use' gates to 'preferential-use' gates so that no single airline can hoard gates. Use them or lose them.

I don't think the exclusive use gates in B & C, where USAirways primarily operates, are going anywhere, but it's clear that by providing more gate space, the city wants to encourage more low fare competitors.

Page 27 of the report also has some interesting info on all the originating traffic across all airlines. US has gone from 2.1 million originating passengers in 1991 to 3.5 million in 2000. Pretty impressive, considering there really hasn't been much increase in gate space!

The following pages also have some neat info on things like average fares, yields, comparison of other cities, daily departures to every city served from PHL, a breakdown of every gate and what kind of aircraft it can handle, etc.

Good bathroom reading....

Among other things, it shows they are sensitive to the potential issues should USAirways cease operating. If that happened, they are another Kansas City. As a practical reality, if that did happen, one of the majors would probably come in, but perhaps not at the current service levels. The presence of WN at BWI, less than 100 miles away, may have had an effect on price increases, which apear to have been at a lower percentage than, say, PIT and CLT.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL:
New international terminal, to open in 9/02, will have 13 new gates capable of handling widebody jets. 9 are going to be preferential lease to USAirways...</font>

Any news on a US Airways Club in the new intl. terminal???

I hope they increase the size of the Envoy Lounge as well... 5 pm on a Friday in the current lounge is standing room only.



[This message has been edited by geo1004 (edited 05-06-2002).]

I'd be shocked....SHOCKED I TELL YOU....if there were no plans for an Envoy lounge in the new terminal. Especially if US plans on moving its operations to 9 'preferred use' gates there.

I sent an emial to Conumer Affairs about the new terminal and the Envoy lounge. Here is their answer - it is NOT good.

"Thank you for your recent e-mail concerning the new international terminal in
Philadelphia. It is my pleasure to respond to you.

According to US Airways Club Administration, we will be opening a new US Airways Club in the new terminal, however, the Envoy lounge will remain where it is."

Is that how you treat your high revenue passangers? Are they going to bus them to the new terminal?

I'm shocked...SHOCKED I TELL YOU!

Actually, if what you were told is true, it kind of makes sense. The Envoy lounge is expensive to operate, with the free booze and food. If there were more space, it would probably be just another club.

Putting a club in the Intl. terminal will allow them to please *ALL* of their club paying passengers - not just those travelling intl. first or Envoy. Maybe it will be similar to the new London club coming this month with buffet service.

But I still don't know why they would leave the Envoy lounge in A if the plan is to move their Intl. ops to the new Intl. terminal.

[This message has been edited by PHL (edited 05-08-2002).]

I think PHL is on to something here... and I hope it's confusion on someone's part.

I, too, would be very surprised if the 9 preferred lease gates in the new terminal for US's international operations do not have a Business(Envoy)/First Class Lounge... very surprised indeed.

I also see the wisdom of having a US Club there. Two reasons. First, if US is going to promote PHL as it's big international hub, there should be a place for US ff'ers (not flying Envoy or FC) to relax before their international departure. UA and AA, for example, very often have RCC's and Admiral's Clubs right near their premium passenger departure lounges... it's very common. Second, once US joins an international alliance, there has to be somewhere for all those oneworld sapphire/ruby or Star Alliance Golds to hang out when travelling on US metal... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Also, didn't US just complete a US Airways Club at LGW (in addition to having separate Envoy/FC arrival and departure Lounges)?????

I have never been to an Envoy Lounge before, but if a new club is opening there I would imagine that it will be the most extravagant of them all. Based on the feedback of the new or remodeled clubs at MCO/TPA/RDU. Hopefully PHL will be the best.

The Envoy louge, I think, is rather small. During peak travel days at about 5ish - it's jammed! Delay a flight and you might as well camp out on the floor. However, I do love the complementary drinks and food.....it's a welcome change from the regular clubs for the added amenities

Add me to the 'win-win' side on this.

Few other thoughts. I was half afraid to hear that the customer service response was going to be 'opening new club in Intl, closing envoy lounge'. That would have been worst case. I dont have much insight into how far away new Intl gates might be from Envoy Lounge, but in the grand scheme of things, it cant be much worse than the (shared) lounges in LGW/CDG.

OK, I got the real information. First off, congratulations to US for their customer service. I sent the email to Consumer Affairs and I got the respone, posted above, the next day. Then the day after that a Sr. person from Club Administration called me. That is excellent service for a little question.

These are the facts according to the Sr person from Club Administration. As always, everything is subject to change but are accurate as of today.
The new terminal is scheduled to open on Oct 1st. The construction of the club is ahead of schedule and will be ready when the terminal opens. The club will be large but I forget the square footage she quoted me. The club will have 2 sections 1) regular club section and 2) a section for an Envoy lounge. She said it will be very roomy. So no matter what you call it, there will be a place in the new terminal, exclusivly for 1st and Envoy passengers, that will have free food and free booze.

Other things we talked about. She said she is trying to bring cheese and crackers back to the Club. they are looking for feedback on the new coffee/tea aching that is in PHL (great if you love coffee but the hot chocolate is better in the other machine). If the machine is a hit they will roll it out to all clubs. She is also proud of the new Club at LGW that will open on June 1. It will have free booze and food. The food will be more than a snack but less than a full meal. The club will be located where the other clubs are and will have 2 levels. This is in addition to the arrivals lounge.

I asked her about the new ID policy. She said that in her travels lately she learned a lot of ways that memberships are being abused. I told her I agree with the policy and hope we don't have to stand in line to show an ID. She said the PHL club just hired 2 new people.

I was very impressed by her calling me. She was interested in my views and spent a lot of time explaining things to me. She also gave me her phone number and email address and told me to ask for her when I'm in PHL. Very good customer service.

mileshound, I look forward to seeing you soon at yet another US Club in PHL! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Great job on getting us the real scoop. Thanks.

And a very impressive job from US for getting back to you with that information... just another reason I love this airline!

I, too, sent an email via the US Website and got a phone call back ONE HOUR LATER. The woman was very nice and basically confirmed all the above, although she didn't mention the separate areas for 1st/Envoy vs. everyone else. Nonetheless, it looks as if US does read and actively reply to the emails.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL:
I, too, sent an email via the US Website and got a phone call back ONE HOUR LATER. </font>

That's service ... US Airways is really on the ball lately, similar to me sending them an email at 10 PM and getting a phone call at 9 AM the next morning (see my post around here somewhere on that ...) ... I'd like to see another major US airline with service like that ...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
I'd like to see another major US airline with service like that ...</font>UA called me on tuesday to see if I was alright b/c they hadn't seen me in a while! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif

UA sent me an email apologizing for a two-hour flight delay less than 11 hours after it occurred! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif

UA replied to an email I sent them in less than two hours! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif

[This message has been edited by chexfan (edited 05-09-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by chexfan:
UA called me on tuesday to see if I was alright b/c they hadn't seen me in a while!</font>

Because they were worried one of their gravy trains was coming to an end ... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">UA sent me an email apologizing for a two-hour flight delay less than 11 hours after it occurred! </font>

An automatic email generated by a computer ... at least the computer loves you! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">UA replied to an email I sent them in less than two hours!</font>

This one does suprise me, but an email still is not as personal as the phone calls we received from US (and of course I'd even say that the email you received was likely mostly cut and paste, but have no way to know that for sure of course http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif). Of course that still doesn't compare to the one hour response PHL got, and I would say is roughly equivalent to a 9 AM phone call to a 10 PM email as far as response time (I sure don't want US calling me at midnight unless it's **** important!) ...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
and of course I'd even say that the email you received was likely mostly cut and paste, but have no way to know that for sure of course</font>Trust me... this was a very unique email that I sent them! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

They still had an unsolicited phone call to me. Let's see US beat that.

I'm still waiting for a US response to my concerns from my January CDG trip. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

What does any of this have to do with the PHL airport? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif


Anyway, I have better things to do that sit around trading emails and phone messages with an airline. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif