US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - The future of PHL ???

Article from the Philadelphia Inquirer August 10, 2003


http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/6496726.htm


The print version had diagrams showing the diagonal proposal that included replacing all passenger terminals except for Term A.

Jay

I saw the diagrams in the paper and although i really like the proposal of making several island terminals and tearing down B-F, but it would be quite a project to complete. It also looks like that proposal will substantialy increase the number of gates at the airport, but it would be billions of dollars and probably at least 20 years to complete. The first proposal which would be to build a runway partially out in the river would be much more feasible. That is if they can work something out with Kaverner.

Here's an option - do nothing and require all airlines to operate fewer, but larger equipment. More people can be handled with fewer takeoffs and landings. A 767 at every gate! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Another option. Leave the runways alone and send all employees to charm school and fix the friggin' baggage issues which are the cause of countless delays.

[This message has been edited by vector (edited 08-10-2003).]

I saw the article...that one plan where they want to demolish most of the current terminals and runways and put in 2 sets of parallel runways and a set of new terminals is absolutely ludicrous...a logistical nightmare I would imagine to go through with that...I think the other plan to move UPS and put a third parallel runway there would be the better choice...

N674UW

[This message has been edited by N674UW (edited 08-10-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by N674UW:
I saw the article...that one plan where they want to demolish most of the current terminals and runways and put in 2 sets of parallel runways and a set of new terminals is absolutely ludicrous...a logistical nightmare I would imagine to go through with that...I think the other plan to move UPS and put a third parallel runway there would be the better choice...

N674UW

[This message has been edited by N674UW (edited 08-10-2003).]</font>

It would fix the traffic problem in the alleys and result in a much better airport.

Demolish terminal B. Then you'd have enough space between the remaining terminals to let planes come and go simultaneously. Then, build another terminal in the Economy parking lot (adjacent to F,next to the USExpress hangar) to make up for the lost gates. In fact, let US build a mega-domestic hub there. The walk between A-West and that terminal would be at least a mile. Once you get the terminals in order, move UPS to make room for another runway.

UPS won't move easily, though. They paid good $$$ for that building in the late 80's. It's their biggest hub in the NE. I was in there about 12 years ago when I was about to work for them in college on the night shift and was amazed at the size and operation.

[this may not be the right place to ponder this; if someone knows of a place where people are discussing this sort of thing I'd love to hear about it]

I've always wondered if the current standard terminal design (planes sit stationary at gates while people and supplies travel to/from the plane) is the most efficient way to load, unload, and service an aircraft. Given that an airplane sitting still at an airport costs money, it seems like some sort of assembly line (think car wash) or train station model might work better.

Imagine how much faster boarding would be if every door on the aircraft was open. It could get even better if aircraft were also redesigned.

If you arranged the airport so that planes got "pulled through" it, then the plane could go immediately from landing to arrivals, service, then departures. If things were laid out well, the taxi time could also be reduced for the most common wind direction. Add a fair amount of automation and you wouldn't need jetway drivers, the planes wouldn't need to be pushed back, they could be automatically fueled, etc. The service crews wouldn't have to go from plane to plane; the planes would come to them.

With ID checks occuring at security, access to the plane could also be automated like a subway turnstile.

I don't know how much the ground time could be reduced, but you could sure put a lot more planes through a facility in a given amount of time.

Just a fantasy, I guess.

Will the mayor's brother be in charge of the construction?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHLbuddy:
Will the mayor's brother be in charge of the construction?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

WAAHHHAAAHA!

Good One.

-Chris

Maybe they should try an exorcism of PHL?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHLbuddy:
Will the mayor's brother be in charge of the construction?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Actually, it's Rendell's bother-in-law...

NOTE: 30 day old thread resurrected from search

Thought I'd also reference this I found over in TravelBuzz:

"PHL: New Details About Airport Security Breach"
http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/Forum57/HTML/000250.html