northwesterner

I've had plenty of this at SEA since the bus gates opened and we've never been sent to a bus gate to deplane. We've just waited in a holding area or circled endlessly around the North Satellite.

In regards to real awful bus gates that Alaska uses... when I flew GDL-LAX we landed after T6 FIS closed, so they put us at some bus gate way out on the far west end of the airport by the beach and we spent forever on the bus driving over to TBIT for immigration.

ctporter

Ive departed and deplaned in the D bus gates. The first time I deplaned I wasn't thinking and just went with the flow of people UP the escalator and had to walk down the D concourse to the exit at C. I could not believe that after all the flights in and out of SEA I got "lost" when trying to exit. Last time I remembered to head DOWN and over to the escalators by the N gates baggage claim.

sea_jeff

For some reason I didn’t mind the bus gates in Europe.

Probably because I’m on vacation with the missus and we’re heading to Eze or Monaco or Venice together instead of flying solo to some frozen Midwestern destination for work.

Another thing is that in Europe they at least had decent egress from the bus. These D gate buses suck big time if you’re stuck in the back.

it would be less irritating if they’d open more than just the single door.

I’m with CTPorter - I used to dread the N gates. They are most welcome compared to this bus malarkey.

And yes - I’ve deleted a bunch of $39 fare emails as of late. . I’m guessing that’s why the number came to mind but boarding at the bus gates is a definite step down from the norm.

beckoa

Can we have a bus service guarantee? That would make the ride more palatable :-:

Eastbay1K

I am still suffering from temporary dyslexia at the term "de-bussing."

For clarity, was the "over 15 minutes" disembarking the plane, boarding the bus, transit on the bus, disembarking the bus, and entering the terminal, or just "de-bussing" (formerly known as "getting off the bus.")

sea_jeff

Lol... I’ve been listening to classical music lately which is a huge departure from the norm for me. I had Debussy on the brain, I guess.

In all seriousness it took almost 20 mins to get off the damn bus this morning as there were two people in wheelchairs that needed to be taken care of.

Boarding the bus commenced at roughly 6:25 and we were still on the bus at 6:52 (I took pictures of the sign that promoted the efficiency of the bus gates) thinking that I might write to complain but decided against it.

2TallSeaFlyer

@sea-jeff: You were on the flight to DTW, weren't you? I was on the first bus out there. There were three wheelchairs that had to load before anyone could get off the bus. I just wonder why they don't use 2 doors to expedite the process, as they do at other airports. But yes, I vented to a coworker that the boarding process took forever and that I hate the bus gates!

sea_jeff

@2Tall - yep. 1st bus DTW this morning. That was fun, wasn’t it? Opening the 2nd door could have really sped things up.

ords

Some fun facts about SEA busing operations...

Total Annual Hardstand Operations (arr/dep) by year:

2016 - 257
2017 – 618
2018 – 5,440
2019 YTD – 15,765

ORD is looking to start a smaller busing operation at the International Facility to offset construction so it's been very interesting to see how SEA manages this.

jrl767

highlights added for context

again, N satellite renovations have taken several jetway gates out of service since ~mid 2018

I would expect these numbers to return to the mid- to high three-digit levels when that’s complete ... higher service levels (more destinations, and more flights on some existing routes) will mean that bus gate ops won’t disappear

jsguyrus

I wish they would at least use them for their smaller aircraft, like A319 and 737-700. Every time I have been bused it was for a full A321, their largest aircraft.

beckoa

Can all of AS' gates handle A321? How about A320's for that matter? I don't know. I just see Airbus mostly in the D gates.

eponymous_coward

The low C/D gates AS uses in that inner dogleg from C/D are preeeettttty tight for tarmac space. Wouldn't want to play bumper cars with million dollar airplanes.

jrl767

I'm thinking I've seen A320s on the N gates closest to D (N3, N6) and on the south side of the satellite (N7, N8, N9)

sltlyamusd

I would agree that it is annoying to have a full A321 arrive into SEA in the evening from JFK or DCA, probably with many tight connections on board, and end up parking at the bus gates. I, too, have wondered if the A321 specifically is restricted in terms of which gates it can use.