Another example that this is going to be COdbaUA
Aug 3, 2011 | 5:32 am
#1
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Another example that this is going to be COdbaUA
So, take a look at this story.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/7679375.html
United has been operating at IAD in the [hellhole] that is the "temporary" C/D concourse for over twenty years. They were supposed to jointly build a new C/D terminal with the MWAA, but they've never been able to afford it. Now all of of a sudden they can find the money to improve IAH?
This merger is increasingly becoming an obvious takeover of PMUA by CO. It appears that all the resources are going to be devoted to improving the PMCO side of the company.
If I was the MWAA, I'd be courting AA and DL to move into IAD to challenge UA, because it is becoming increasingly obvious UA doesn't care about its IAD hub.
United Airlines is interested in gaining control over the operations of Terminal B at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The carrier would pay $686 million to expand and renovate the terminal, and the city would put $288 million into the project. The Houston Airport System has been collecting a $3 fee per passenger since late 2009.
United has been operating at IAD in the [hellhole] that is the "temporary" C/D concourse for over twenty years. They were supposed to jointly build a new C/D terminal with the MWAA, but they've never been able to afford it. Now all of of a sudden they can find the money to improve IAH?
This merger is increasingly becoming an obvious takeover of PMUA by CO. It appears that all the resources are going to be devoted to improving the PMCO side of the company.
If I was the MWAA, I'd be courting AA and DL to move into IAD to challenge UA, because it is becoming increasingly obvious UA doesn't care about its IAD hub.
Last edited by halls120; Aug 3, 2011 at 7:37 am Reason: watch your language, please http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#q88
Aug 3, 2011 | 5:49 am
#2
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Or perhaps they realize that the value of "owning" the terminal in IAH is higher than at IAD? Or that the combined resources of the company now have changed the financial realities of what funds are available to invest in airport renovations?
And you can court AA/DL all you want; neither of them is going to establish a hub at IAD at this point.
And you can court AA/DL all you want; neither of them is going to establish a hub at IAD at this point.
Aug 3, 2011 | 6:04 am
#3
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As someone who usually flies either into or out of or both Washington, DC on my trips to the states, I am very familiar with that IAD hellhole. My solution is simple, fly in and out of DCA instead, a MUCH nicer airport.
Aug 3, 2011 | 6:28 am
#4
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Or perhaps they realize that the value of "owning" the terminal in IAH is higher than at IAD? Or that the combined resources of the company now have changed the financial realities of what funds are available to invest in airport renovations?
And you can court AA/DL all you want; neither of them is going to establish a hub at IAD at this point.
And you can court AA/DL all you want; neither of them is going to establish a hub at IAD at this point.
Unless you're going to tell me that IAH is in worse shape than IAD, what other reason can there really be?
Aug 3, 2011 | 6:32 am
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Aug 3, 2011 | 6:56 am
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The merger may be a CO takeover in all but name, but if it is I'm not sure the IAH story is proof. Maybe Houston is more amenable to making a deal work than MWAA. Hard to really say.
The merger may be a CO takeover in all but name, but if it is I'm not sure the IAH story is proof. Maybe Houston is more amenable to making a deal work than MWAA. Hard to really say.
Aug 3, 2011 | 7:24 am
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I've read some crazy stuff on the interwebs, but this has to be just about the most thing out there.
Thanks for the a.m. laugh. :-:
thing out there. Thanks for the a.m. laugh. :-:
Aug 3, 2011 | 7:28 am
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OF COURSE management is going to favor CO hubs (and routes) over UA. Even ORD seems to have taken a back seat to IAH recently. The execs are mainly CO people. Look for WHQ to end up in Texas in the not too distant future also.
IAD clearly needs the upgrade, while IAH is not even second in my book. But as long as it is the hometown on the new UA, that's how it will be.
IAD clearly needs the upgrade, while IAH is not even second in my book. But as long as it is the hometown on the new UA, that's how it will be.
Aug 3, 2011 | 7:53 am
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Appears Houston has become the center of the world. Trying to figure financials here spend appr 700M to go head to head with the most profitable US carrier in city you already supposedly control?
Or perhaps CO planning on creating a new TATL and TPAC hub!
Or perhaps CO planning on creating a new TATL and TPAC hub!
Aug 3, 2011 | 7:55 am
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This is just silly.
The upgrades to Terminal B were planned long before the merger -- even before the financial crisis in 2008, which caused the original plans to be shelved.
Terminal B at IAH is in worse condition than C/D at IAD.
C/D at IAD does need to be upgraded however...
The upgrades to Terminal B were planned long before the merger -- even before the financial crisis in 2008, which caused the original plans to be shelved.
Terminal B at IAH is in worse condition than C/D at IAD.
C/D at IAD does need to be upgraded however...
Aug 3, 2011 | 8:01 am
#12
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The entire premise of this thread is abusrd. It's all one airline. Why would it irrationally act to improve a historic CO hub over a historic UA hub? It has traffic in both of them. As pointed out above, the IAH renovation has been long planned (and far more concretely than the vague desire to fix the problem with the "temporary" terminal at Dulles). Besides terminal B in IAH is actually comparable to the A1-A6 gates at IAD and far worse than C/D.
Aug 3, 2011 | 8:12 am
#13
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The entire premise of this thread is abusrd. It's all one airline. Why would it irrationally act to improve a historic CO hub over a historic UA hub? It has traffic in both of them. As pointed out above, the IAH renovation has been long planned (and far more concretely than the vague desire to fix the problem with the "temporary" terminal at Dulles). Besides terminal B in IAH is actually comparable to the A1-A6 gates at IAD and far worse than C/D.
From 1987, when the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was created, through 1999, the Airports Authority invested $1.5 billion in an expansion program which doubled the size of the Main Terminal, added two permanent Midfield Concourses, expanded Customs and Immigration facilities, modernized ticket counter and baggage claim space, improved the roadways, and added cargo facilities.
“D2” Phase of Dulles Construction Begins
Growth projections for both passengers and aircraft operations highlighted the need for even more airport facilities in the future. In 2000, the Airports Authority Board of Directors approved a second phase of capital investment which is called D2, the Dulles Development program.
Completed D2 projects include two new Daily Parking Garages, passenger walkways with moving sidewalks connecting the garages to the Main Terminal and connecting the Main Terminal to Concourse B, reconstruction of Runway 12-30, new permanent Z-gates at the Terminal, an expansion of Concourse B, a fourth runway, the AeroTrain system, multiple roadway improvements, the renovation of the original 1962 Eero Saarinen-designed terminal, including improved ticketing counters and new baggage claim devices and the construction of a new Airport Traffic Control Tower for the Federal Aviation Administration
“D2” Phase of Dulles Construction Begins
Growth projections for both passengers and aircraft operations highlighted the need for even more airport facilities in the future. In 2000, the Airports Authority Board of Directors approved a second phase of capital investment which is called D2, the Dulles Development program.
Completed D2 projects include two new Daily Parking Garages, passenger walkways with moving sidewalks connecting the garages to the Main Terminal and connecting the Main Terminal to Concourse B, reconstruction of Runway 12-30, new permanent Z-gates at the Terminal, an expansion of Concourse B, a fourth runway, the AeroTrain system, multiple roadway improvements, the renovation of the original 1962 Eero Saarinen-designed terminal, including improved ticketing counters and new baggage claim devices and the construction of a new Airport Traffic Control Tower for the Federal Aviation Administration
Like it or not, IAD is a prime international gateway to our nation's capital, and the existing face that United provides in our nation's capital is just plain ugly. Why fixing this isn't more important then rehabbing one part of IAH is a telling example of the new United's priorities.
Aug 3, 2011 | 8:30 am
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Like it or not, IAD is a prime international gateway to our nation's capital, and the existing face that United provides in our nation's capital is just plain ugly. Why fixing this isn't more important then rehabbing one part of IAH is a telling example of the new United's priorities.
Hey, everyone in NoVa is so fabulously wealthy and trendy, why not have everyone pony up the bucks and build a whole new airport?
Aug 3, 2011 | 8:34 am
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The planned new C/D terminal at IAD didn't just pop up yesterday - it was on the drawing board before 9/11, long before the 2008 financial crisis apparently shelved the IAH terminal B upgrade. The now completed Aerotrain was planned in the 1990's to connect to a new C/D, with construction beginning in 2000. I guess you can claim that the plans for a new C/D terminal were "vague," but that wouldn't be accurate. Here are the facts, in case you are interested.
There is no Aerotrain stop at the existing C/D concourse, because it was never supposed to last this long.
Like it or not, IAD is a prime international gateway to our nation's capital, and the existing face that United provides in our nation's capital is just plain ugly. Why fixing this isn't more important then rehabbing one part of IAH is a telling example of the new United's priorities.
There is no Aerotrain stop at the existing C/D concourse, because it was never supposed to last this long.
Like it or not, IAD is a prime international gateway to our nation's capital, and the existing face that United provides in our nation's capital is just plain ugly. Why fixing this isn't more important then rehabbing one part of IAH is a telling example of the new United's priorities.