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PostApr 22, 2010#1026

I'm sure Delta is interested in Lambert International overall - maybe to add and beef up flights that have been dropped. Delta right now serves STL to (nonstop) Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City -- all of their larger hubs. But recently, watching the airline industry, Delta is expanding operations overall. STL right now is poised to grow and possibly grow big with the China Hib deal which could land international passenger flights on China carriers as well. Delta also sees the whole left here from AA - just like Southwest did and others.
Delta also sees a large market in the center of the country (almost twice the size of Cincy and Memphis - much less Salt Lake) that has openings. They also see that Lambert has the room (not in just gates- but great on-time arrival departures with the new runways). We will have to wait and see!

PostApr 22, 2010#1027

Should have mentioned too...

Our new Lambert Director is agressive and she knows the airlines and business better than most - she was hub operations manager for AA/TWA here for years!

One thing Lambert IS getting a workout on lately - "EMERGENCY LANDINGS" another one last night - Delta ironically. I think that is the third emergency landing STL has had in the past month.
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PostMay 11, 2010#1028

looks like delta is adding laguardia. four flights a day on rjs. if they used normal planes they could compete with aa bit more. oh well. it's fine i guess.
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PostMay 11, 2010#1029

As noted by bikin' an d reported on the St. Louis BizJournals. I believe Delta will soon have more flights then AA. Also think that United/Continental might open up some opportunities - hoping for another Canadian flight or two or maybe south of the border.

Was flying Delta last week and looking at their route map. Couldn't help thinking about Moorlanders comment in that it actually makes some sense to shut down hubs at Cincy and Memphis and have a smaller mini-hub at STL. First, consolidation will be sought in the midwest, STL evens out some flight times, STL has plenty of capaicty to relieve Atlanta, and STL offers a bigger metro area with more corporate HQ's.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stor ... ily18.html

Delta Air Lines said Tuesday it plans to add new service between Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York.

The flights will begin Sept. 7 and operate four times a day.

Delta already has service between St. Louis and New York-JFK. The airline also recently added additional flights between St. Louis and its Salt Lake City hub, providing convenient connections to West Coast cities as well as international destinations, including Tokyo.

This summer, Delta will offer a total of 34 peak-day flights at Lambert, with service to eight cities, offering convenient one-stop service to popular destinations such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver and Washington, D.C.

Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) is building New York into a hub and has added 40 new destinations from LaGuardia and JFK combined



Read more: Delta to add service between Lambert in St. Louis, LaGuardia in NY - St. Louis Business Journal:
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PostMay 11, 2010#1030

Yep... totally agree and Delta is going to be STL's new AA.

Now with United and Continental basing most flights out of their only Midwestern city of Chicago - competition will be fierce for Delta.

Here is Delta's daily new flights from/to STL:
Departs Time/Arrives Time
St. Louis 7 a.m. LaGuardia 10:25 a.m.
St. Louis 11 a.m. LaGuardia 2:25 p.m.
St. Louis 2 p.m. LaGuardia 5:25 p.m.
St. Louis 6:50 p.m. LaGuardia 10:12 p.m.


LaGuardia 8:25 a.m. St. Louis 10:15 a.m.
LaGuardia 11:05 a.m. St. Louis 12:55 p.m.
LaGuardia 4:20 p.m. St. Louis 6:17 p.m.
LaGuardia 7:45 p.m. St. Louis 9:35 p.m.


Here is another story from FOX:

Delta Air Lines will offer service between Lambert and LaGuardia Airport in New York. The new service is part of Deltas ongoing expansion in New York. It will begin on Sept. 7, 2010.

The new flights will complement Delta's existing service between St. Louis and New York-JFK, which will continue to provide travelers with convenient connections to cities worldwide from Delta's international gateway.

The new service is Delta's latest expansion and improvement in St. Louis. The airline recently added additional flights between St. Louis and its Salt Lake City hub, providing convenient connections to West Coast cities as well as international destinations, including Tokyo.

PostMay 11, 2010#1031

Well, Southwest is growing out of Terminal 2 already with their new service... parking is not pretty in Terminal 1.

In addition to all of SWA's new nonstops from STL - they announced additional frequency on:

Southwest is also boosting frequency with:

■One additional daily nonstop roundtrip between St. Louis and Minneapolis (service launched in January)
■One additional daily nonstop roundtrip between St. Louis and Houston.


Read more: Southwest Airlines to add 10 flights at Lambert Sunday - St. Louis Business Journal:


The Story:
STL Business Journal
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

As it expands air service to and from St. Louis, Southwest Airlines’ has hit some unexpected turbulence on the ground.

Regular business travelers on the airline are finding themselves squeezed out of the smaller, 980-space parking garage directly in front of Southwest’s terminal at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

The parking shortage at the Terminal 2 lot forces fliers accustomed to walking directly from their parking spots to the Southwest check-in to drive about three-quarters of a mile west to Lambert’s main terminal — Terminal 1 lot, where there’s parking for 2,017 cars — and take a shuttle ride back to Southwest. Depending on the traffic, that’s adding 2 minutes to 10 minutes on the shuttle alone.

“Tuesday and Wednesday every week” the garage in front of the Southwest terminal reaches capacity, said Dione Joyner, customer service manager for SuperPark, the parking concession company that operates the city-owned parking garages at Lambert. The garage fills to near capacity other days of the business week.

Joyner’s comments came before an expected rush to Southwest as it kicked off 10 new daily flights Sunday, filling part of the flight gap following American Airlines’ service cuts in St. Louis. Those feeling the parking pinch the most are business travelers hoping to avoid delays on shuttle rides. They pay a premium — $21 a day — to park in either the Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 lots closest to the airport.

Jeff Lea, communications manager for Lambert, said weekday parking has always been the busiest, and he pointed out there are alternatives to the two main terminal garages. “There’s not a parking shortage at the airport,” he said.

Technically, he’s right.

SuperPark will guarantee a parking spot for Southwest passengers in its Lot A, adjacent to the Terminal 1 lot, where parking is $13 a day, Joyner said, but still a shuttle ride away from Southwest’s terminal. Three other Lambert lots, as well as a number of other private lots that provide shuttle service, charge $7 to $11 a day.

Southwest already recommends passengers arrive 90 minutes before their scheduled takeoff.

And those driving themselves to the airport should tack on shuttle time.



rdesloge@bizjournals.com



Read more: Business travelers on Southwest Airlines find parking problems at Lambert - St. Louis Business Journal:
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PostMay 12, 2010#1032

I would like to see the airport consider building a long multi-story parking / rental car facility in place of Concourse D. It would be easy to reach from the access road, and parkers could walk to either terminal or ride a special light rail train that ran very frequently among terminal 1, terminal 2, and a couple of stops at the new parking facility. Or build another people mover along the North side of the parking structure that goes straight into the two terminals.

It could also house all the rental car facilities in a single structure, as the garages in Minneapolis and San Francisco do, so visitors would no longer need to ride a bus to the rental car lots. Renters could return cars to a single central site. With fees paid by the rental car companies, I suspect the garage would pay for itself.

Then the airport could tear down the current short term garages in front of terminals 1 and 2, and replace them with something more welcoming, like botanical gardens.
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PostMay 12, 2010#1033

Not a bad idea there!

Here is another great article on the future of Lambert STL International in the USA Business News:

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport - More Than A Gateway
After dealing with a tough economic climate, St. Louis’ Lambert International Airport has multi-pronged plans for diversification and improvement
Written by Gabe Perna & Produced by Mike Magno | Thu May 6, 2010

Great Read:
http://www.businessreviewusa.com/compan ... re-gateway
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PostMay 20, 2010#1034

Driving by the airport on I-70 today, I notice new "signage" (not signs) as architects like to say. The new blue signs referred to Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. They listed which airlines were at each terminal -- 1 and 2, along with parking. Also, saw a new rental car sign. Looked good.
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PostMay 25, 2010#1035

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forum ... n/4820055/

apparently Southwest is having a tough time trying to adjust to the increased amount of traffic that they've added at Lambert. some people in that thread also claim that Southwest can't expand down Concourse D because the area into which they'd expand is currently set up for international travel, Concourse D is closed off, there are other carriers in the way, etc. What if we moved all the international carriers (USA 3000, AeroMexico, SunCountry) over to the end of Concourse C where TWA did all of its long haul flights? I suppose that's assuming that the customs equipment is still in place down there, but it'd give Southwest the room they need to expand, and it might make Concourse C actually look lively again.

anyway, has anyone else had delay problems with Southwest recently? I'm flying them to Vegas in about a month, hopefully it'll all be cleared up by then.
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PostMay 25, 2010#1036

I flew on Southwest this past weekend to Columbus, OH. The security line only too about 10 minutes (approx 6:30pm). I think the new security screening at the other end of the terminal helps the main screening line. That CMH flight was delayed for 2 hours because of a last minute crew change. I'll be flying Southwest again this Wednesday to Buffalo, I can report back again about my travels.

It would be nice if concourse D reopened, but I also noticed gates 24E, 22E, and 25T don't have jetways and chairs to sit. Why isn't SWA using those gates?
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PostMay 25, 2010#1037

^ there is some discussion about that here about that very thing.
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PostMay 25, 2010#1038

Flew to NOLA on Southwest this past weekend. The East Terminal is certainly a busy place, but everything went smoothly.
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PostMay 25, 2010#1039

A post in the blog link that Bikin_man provides has a great ariel view of the East Terminal. As a frequent Southwest flyer over the years I can't help to call it that. What gets me on the photo is that we are back to the same old issues of Lambert. Everything seems to be an add on to something else. Concourse D to the Main, Concourse D to Interntational Gates, East Terminal to International Gates. The end result is a constrained facility surrounded by a mass of land everywhere else.

Personally, I would tear down Concourse D and relocate the International Gates to the Main terminal. This opens an opportunity to address issues with Southwest and opens a frank discussion with them about the future. Do they want to add more gates? Do they want more parking? Do they want new international Gates?

I'm hopefull that Lambert might have some room to make things happen in the near future. Both houses of Congress passed a multiyear aviation bill. A reconcilation might allow an increase in fees and thus additional airport funding for capital projects. Second, I think Lambert is an ideal location for Southwest to experiment with international flights as their growing number of flights provides a base. Legacy airlines are consolidating and Southwest seriously has to think about their network.
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PostJun 09, 2010#1040

Looks like Lambert landed an international flight on a widebody!
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PostJun 09, 2010#1041

http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sou ... &play=true
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PostJun 09, 2010#1042

I just wonder if they had to wake up the customs officer to drive to the airport:
Passengers on the Boeing 777 were cleared through Customs in St. Louis to save time, Smith said.
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PostJun 10, 2010#1043

Not sure how much validity KMOV Channel 4 has, but they are reporting that St. Louis & Delta are in talks to add Lambert as a hub. See the link for more:

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Lambert- ... um=twitter
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PostJun 10, 2010#1044

Man I hope this isn't BS.
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PostJun 10, 2010#1045

I think it is a horrible idea on Deltas part. You would then have:
-Memphis
-Atlanta
-Detroit
-Minneapolis
-St. Louis

All mid america hubs. That would never work out and really wouldnt add any benefit to us as the "direct" flights probably wouldn't be that great anyway.

What you need is the following:
Have Southwest team up with an international airline partnership. Star Alliance or One World and have them make St. Louis the JFK of the midwest and have all the transfers to their final destination via Southwest planes.

I think that is the only real possibility to become a true international hub that allows international flights.

Otherwise... who is going to build a true national hub here besides Southwest or JetBlue?
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PostJun 10, 2010#1046

^and Cincinnati.
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PostJun 10, 2010#1047

More news just reported on KMOV that the Delta Hub is in the works for Lambert STL International.

I wouldn't call any deal for additional flights or any type of hub in STL a "bad idea" at all.

In fact, I am sure that Delta is looking to possibly "move" or consolodate Memphis or/Cincy at STL... but that is just my take.

OR... Delta just sees a huge market of 3 million people greatly underserved and possibly an international gateway (outside of it's cramed ATL hub). Adding additional international flights to STL and having enough connection flights to/from the city will fill those flights in addition serve STL to cities currently not served.

I think STL and Delta will do everything possible to make this deal work.

The fact IS that Delta sounds like they are ready to move in and that in itself is a great sign for STL Int.
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PostJun 10, 2010#1048

Delta just sees a huge market of 3 million people greatly underserved
As much as I'd like to be able to fly direct to more places from here, St. Louis is not underserved at all based on our O/D traffic.
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PostJun 10, 2010#1049

We are the largest metro area (of pop) that does not have service to Europe.

I am sure Delta sees double when looking at STL over Memphis, Salt Lake and Cincy.
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PostJun 10, 2010#1050

Adding additional flights to new destinations is always a good thing for the region. 80 additional flights sounds like a win win to me.
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