Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
You ever done a T3-T4 transfer at LAX? I have, as an AS->AA or AA->AS pax. It blows. It's one thing doing one going from two different airlines, entirely another to do them on one airline (nobody likes it when it's UA at SFO, or reclearing security at LGA when going between AA flights in different terminals). There was no way AA was going to want to split their operation between T3 and T4 (and besides, T3 is a dump, we called it T3rdWorld in the AS forum before we moved to LAX T6. Literally- there have been times where the sewage system has backed up in T3
). So conceding those gates is easy for them.
Sure I have. When AA bought RenoAir in 1999, AA inherited a few gates in T-3. In 2001, when AA bought the assets of TWA, AA got even more gates in T-3. Even after AA shut down the T-3 operation, AA ran a bus to connect to Alaska flights when AS was in T-3.
Of course the split terminal operation isn't as nice as having all the gates in one or more buildings interconnected behind security.
But AA already runs a huge split operation at LAX: The American Eagle dump on the far east side of the airfield. To get there, you have to ride a bus that can take 10 to 15 minutes. There aren't enough of them and they don't operate with sufficient frequency. For "efficiency" reasons, they don't depart until they're over-stuffed with passengers. It's Los Angeles. What else is new?