N830MH

Hi All,

I have heard a rumors Alaska Air will be moved to terminal 3 from old T2 at PHX. Is that true? I wasn't sure about this one. They will get more extremely overcrowded who usually at terminal 3N. The line will be longer. After they recently AirTran Airways moved to T4 by last Spring 2011.

Let's the speculation begin.

tusphotog

Ah, an Airliners.net rumor repost! T3N isn't "extremely overcrowded" at all. There are at least three open gates over there.

T2 will have Pre-Check, which should make things a little more bearable at 6a. T3N has a strange, but generally pretty efficient setup.

formeraa

What would be the benefit of AS moving to T3 at PHX? I think it's a rumor...UA has been downsizing their operation in PHX over time. T2 would be a ghost-town...

glacierbear

Maybe it's the start of rebuild or new terminal 2 construction that has airlines looking for differnet terminal space . I mysef really like using terminal 2 as its much quieter to come and go at Skyharbor.

JPat

I agree T2 makes flying in and out of Sky Harbor tolerable. Very short TSA lines, a quick walk out to baggage claim and an even shorter walk out to the cabs.
T3 is just not as pleasant, the only good out of this would be some wider food choices.

rybob1

I disagree, I would very much appreciate leaving the slums of T2 behind and moving into T3. Not that the need has ever arose, but it would seem that moving nearer to Delta or AA would make more sense than being next to United. I too would appreciate the food choices in T3 - Is anything good available in T2? No I don't consider Wendy's "good".

formeraa

Paradise Cafe is good, but I believe they're in every terminal. Wendy's is much better than McDonald's or Burger King...and they have a whole bunch of healthier items, too!!

beckoa

Like Frosties mmm

Its been over a decade since flying AS thru PHX so I can't recall details much Last time I was in PHX was via the HP n/s from ANC

Chugach

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

I like T2. Has and old-school Southwestern vibe to it.

N830MH

Right, there is Wendy's inside the entire concourse, too.

UFgatorgal

Flew back yesterday from PHX. Having seen this thread earlier, I asked agent when checking my bag about it. Agent smiled, said "I've been working here for over 5 years and that rumor has been going around since before I got here". She thought it was very unlikely.

I have flown in/out PHX over 15+ years including several brutal delays (3+ hrs long), at least food choices are "better" now. But if you are in hurry and wanna grab to go- you are likely out of luck. Yesterday the line was huge at paradise and they had no food to go. The "pizza" place further into the term has some stuff to go (looked like it was there for days).

TSA lines appeared short (that is waiting to check your ID) - then the real wait began! They merge the priority line with regular line so that line really backs us.

If you chose to opt out and are female -be prepared to wait - they are not staffed to handle "female assist". They tried very hard to encourage me NOT to opt out. Even requiring I listen to them read a card about what the opt out would require and insisted they finish the full card despite ensuring I'm familiar bc I fly several times a week. Requiring me to listen to them read a card then reconfirming I want to opt out has never happened before and always opt out when presented with backscatter machines.

After waiting what seemed like a much longer than usual time...asked how it was coming....told female officer was doing another pat down. Waited patiently for several more min...then asked if she was done yet....NO...then asked "Well, where is she doing the pat down because I don't see anyone getting one right now". Suddenly they swapped out a lady off the screening machine to do my pat down.

formeraa

I suppose it depends on when you go through T2 at PHX. In the late afternoon/early evening, there is rarely a line at security and certainly no lines at the restaurants. I've also had very good luck EARLY in the morning (around 5am) with very few passengers in line.

At some point, T2 will close down, as the new Southwest terminal is built at that end of the airport. Then, AS will have to move to T3 or T4.

tusphotog

For anyone wanting to move to T3, the food choices in the DL wing aren't much better than T2. There's a Wendy's and a Burrito place and a bar. The Paradise is land side (so no soup to go). T4 has some of the best food I've ever seen in an airport. Unfortunately, that terminal is so crowded I try to avoid it. By the way, the Round Table Pizza in T2 is the only Round Table in Arizona.

Strange. Whenever I've opted out at T2 (and T4, for that matter), I've always been treated well and respectfully by the TSOs. No card, no speeches, no fuss and someone is around to give me my freedom grope fairly quickly.

I have noticed that the TSOs at T2 are very, very slow on the x-ray machines, especially when there is a holiday and a lot of kettles are traveling. Window dressing at its finest!

COS flyer

The key is...Can PHX close terminal 2? So that would mean moving both Alaska and United. T3 South looks like it has (from Google Maps) room to add a couple of jetways. For Alaska the need is only 2 gates (and barely that if Portland service goes poof), so shacking up with Delta makes sense. If United can get additional jet ways added to South and they would have a home as well. If US/AA tie the knot, AA would move to T4, meaning that Terminal 2 can absolutely close. With an AA/US tie up the longer term is the viability of PHX for them could be very questionable. I could easily see a scenario where all airlines are located in T4 in the future - maybe without building the 4th pier on the South side of T4.

I think its not if but when AS gets relocated

tusphotog

Doubt they'll close T3 since they're building an AirTrain stop at the terminal.

As for moving everyone to T4: that'd be an absolute nightmare logistically. Without simultaneous departures from the north and south sides of the field, taxi space will be at a premium, especially when departing west. There aren't any open gates over there anyway.

Part of me hopes AS stays put at T2. With that parking garage across the street, it's really nice being in my car and on the freeway before the 20 minute bag guarantee is up.