While I'd like to see more overall capacity and frequency, I wonder how much will be just increasing frequency to other hubs? That's needed, too, as I've noticed issues getting reasonable connections ex-IAD when there's only 1 morning flight to ORD or EWR to a connecting destination.
Originally Posted by
UAL250
Makes sense to add some banks for a few high-profile routes. UA already does this with DEN and SFO, both usually have a 10-11 am and 2-3 pm flight on top of the standard banks. And if you haven't been to IAD, the 8am, 12pm, 5pm, and 10pm banks are miserable in the concourse. 5pm especially is awful with all the heavies going to Europe.
The 5pm in particular is indeed awful. I've had several flights arriving in the middle of that bank, and in addition to the terminals themselves being a crowded mess, it's a huge challenge for people coming to drop off or pick up pax. Last time, it took my wife 25 minutes to make it from entering the loop around the terminal to reaching arrivals door 5 (where I was waiting). And people who don't want to go through the loop just park and ignore the cops trying to get them to move along, making it harder to load/unload with all the vehicles blocking access.
If more banks means cutting back the 5pm flights a bit to spread them out into the other banks, I'm all for it.