Does anyone know how they picked DFW, ATL, DCA, CHI, and now BOS as the continental flights that leave from term A when the rest leave from C. I find it very challanging to make connections when i have to change terminals and have often missed. I'm sure thier is an opps reason why these were choosen.

You also forgot IAD.

DFW, ATL, CHI, IAD are major hubs of competitors. As such, CO traffic on these rotes tends to be more O&D than others. As for DCA and BOS, this is the EWR version of the Shuttle and they too have more O&D traffic than typical.

I think the original thinking (when it was just ATL, ORD and DFW) was that there would be little connecting traffic from these cities, as they are all hubs for other airlines, so why would someone going to/from these cities choose to connect through EWR if they could just take a nonstop on DL/UA/AA. So these markets would primarily be origin/destination markets and thus not an inconvenience for any passengers being away from the "main" C terminal. Obviously CO has the historical data on what % of pax are O/D vs. connecting on these routes. I imagine that the other cities added also have high O/D traffic relative to connecting.

It also probably has something to do with CO trying to keep JetBlue's operations limited, but that doesn't answer the question of why these routes.

FWIW, CO is supposed to be instituting an airside shuttle bus between A and C.

Personally, I take the EWR/DCA/EWR flight 2-3 times a month. The afternoon departures from DCA usually have at least a dozen customers connecting onwards to various International destinations, as well as dozens more connecting domestically. Especially on Sunday afternoons, the 5pm flight is ground-stopped almost 80% of the time, and arrives more than 1 hour past the scheduled arrival time (which is already padded by 30 minutes) more than half the time. Often, that flight arrives at 8pm - not enough time to get to T-C and make any connections that leave before 9pm.

I find it puzzling and frustrating that CO cannot work its fleet flow so flights they know will be ground stopped (DCA, IAD, BOS) or delayed due to consistent weather and traffic issues (ATL) are not scheduled to arrive terminal C when it looks like the flight will arrive more than 30 minutes past scheduled arrival time.

It's easier for them to do an equipment swap or even use the hi-speed tow tug to move the late arriving equipment back to T-A, than dealing with dozens of misconnected and angry customers.

There has to be a better way to manage this process. It's very frustrating and stressful.

Can't say for certain why they chose the cities they did... though my best guess is the O&D consideration mentioned here.

BUT, don't forget that the whole reason CO is in A at all has nothing to do with running out of gate space in C -- CO is trying to use every free gate at Newark to disallow jetBlue from expanding there. It's entirely political.

I think the JBLU issue is it in a nutshell. Continental has to hold those gates. It's not a bad tactic. CO has had to contend with a number of competitors in the past, I don't blame them at all.

Right now, the FAA is working on new traffic patterns for the New York area. Who knows what will come from it. I am sure the last thing CO wants to see is Southwest moving into EWR--if they ever sort out the delays to Southwest's satisfaction, yikes!

Rumor had it in another thread that the A/C bus just might start today. Anyone heard anything?