docbert

Article - https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bes...22-11668645546 (may be paywalled, although it's working for me at the moment without one)
Video - https://www.wsj.com/video/better-log...F41986E37.html

Kacee

SFO certainly gets my vote. We were just at JFK this weekend . . . the loooong walk from T5 to Airtrain made me realize how easy it is to get from one terminal to another at SFO.

Ironic though that WSJ award is based on the new T1 as that is by far the least pax-friendly terminal at SFO IMO, with very slow security and very long walks to and from most gates.

gaobest

Plus T1 is great for those in Sfo not flying with United / Star and AA/AS / Oneworld. Seriously who really is frequently flying on delta / southwest if they live in San Francisco? And heaven help pax who arrive after 11p - there’s super limited infrastructure. This isn’t Dubai or the other airports that have flights every hour.

Zorak

I'm a SFO-based Delta DM and from the size of the upgrade lists (certainly pre COVID and also now that travel is rebounding) there are plenty of us.

Also it seems like your mental map of which airlines are in which terminals is out of date.

Kacee

By many years.

DELee

Too many edibles?

David

Eastbay1K

Too many King Crab Legs. As for SFO, other than the runway situation in the slightest of inclement weather, it is perhaps the most compact and comfortable big city airport anywhere. I could nitpick over this and that over the years, but as a whole, it is quite nice from the passenger perspective.

Now, as to those DL gates and UG lists (where I'm a lowly PM, unlike Zorak the Exalted), they're not my favo(u)rite, especially as I feel like I'm going into a bank vault that is going to lock behind me every time I board a plane.

gaobest

i know majorly who’s in T1 and who isn’t in T1. Delta is the only us3 airline in T1. Of course, maybe UAL and AA/AS moved out of T3 & T2 into T1 in which case it’ll be a treat to finally experience and see T1 after that huge renovation.

i am puzzled with delta out of Sfo because I can’t picture a huge range for nonstops for medium tier cities - I fear delta requires connections via SLC / MSP. I’ve only flown DL back from MSP.

Zorak

You apparently don't (if it were me, I might have done some searching after being told my info was out of date, instead of doubling down )

I will grant you that the gates that DL uses are in what used to be called T1, concourse C, but with the construction going on with the landside terminal, C was redesignated as part of T2.

But even setting that aside, the fact is that the new Harvey Milk T1 consists only of concourse B, and is in use by AA, jetBlue, and Southwest: https://www.flysfo.com/passengers/fl...o/airlines-sfo

San Francisco / SFO Moved to Terminal 1 2020 (inc. new Admirals Club)

Alaska is going to move to T1: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alas...fo-2024-a.html

DL primarily uses C gates but sometimes D. Since the opening of the D-E airside connector UA has started using D gates as well.

I can't speak for others, but for me one of the things that drove me to DL was that one of my primary destinations effectively required a connection regardless of which airline I flew, since the only non-stop at the time was a red-eye eastbound and a 6am flight westbound. Not that I never fly UA, but the mix is about 70-30 or 80-20 in favor of DL.

Kacee

Makes sense. I certainly prefer flying DL over UA when I have the choice.

Except it's not in T1 anymore. And last time I checked, AA still qualified as one of the three US legacy carriers.

Kacee

Delete IT error

Eastbay1K

Well, si y no. DL didn't move. The entry point did, now via T2, but I expect it will be called T1 again once the current hole in the ground is completed, and you'll be able to go from Int'l A to Int'l G (albeit in a roundabout way), all airside,

gaobest

These Sfo changes are amazing. I still can’t see how Sfo wins wsj award. Impressive that AA is in T1 - I guess I didn’t fly AA in 2021! Definitely not 2022 (I only flew to Disneyland!)

I’m certainly looking forward to a future T1 visit.

dhuey

Is that permanent? Last I recall, the security station is still in place at the C Concourse, but collecting dust and cobwebs.

Kacee

It's pending completion of the brand new T1 North Lobby, which I believe is currently slated for 2024. They now have the steel framing up, so no longer just a hole in the ground.

I won't be surprised if they also redo C security to install those horrible automated belts they now use for B concourse.