urbanSTL

(Of course . . . if you're going to do that you really need to find a way to get the bride and groom onto a "just married" aircraft towing appropriate wedding flags. Maybe find a way to do GA out of T1 for such occasions.)

I could imagine a avgeek convention. Could chat about all things aviation with people who actually know what you are talking about. Meanwhile a bunch of people with big cameras filling every square inch of B's windows. I would attend something like that.

That's a convention I could get behind, but I fear your average avgeek would be a hard sell without an absolute guarantee of cool planes. I love taking pictures of airports and not just planes. Those airport pictures? . . . They get absolutely panned on avgeek websites. No matter what airport. Avgeeks are brutal. Worse than rail fans. (And I do not say that lightly. I've been a part of that community long enough to know the ins and outs of about every possible argument. And there are many.)

All that said . . . with the right audience it might almost work. And maybe some coordination with someone that can actually schedule a takeoff or two. There are actual cool planes that fly through. Everybody loves military operations, and sexy new trainers that haven't been photographed to death yet could be a draw. That catfish (who was out of her den today) is always cool. And maybe there'd be a way to arrange a tour of something as a part of the deal. Anyway . . . interesting thought. All depends on how much rent they want and what it would take to sell tickets.

I would totally be down for that too!

symphonicpoet wrote: That's a convention I could get behind, but I fear your average avgeek would be a hard sell without an absolute guarantee of cool planes. I love taking pictures of airports and not just planes. Those airport pictures? . . . They get absolutely panned on avgeek websites. No matter what airport. Avgeeks are brutal. Worse than rail fans. (And I do not say that lightly. I've been a part of that community long enough to know the ins and outs of about every possible argument. And there are many.)

All that said . . . with the right audience it might almost work. And maybe some coordination with someone that can actually schedule a takeoff or two. There are actual cool planes that fly through. Everybody loves military operations, and sexy new trainers that haven't been photographed to death yet could be a draw. That catfish (who was out of her den today) is always cool. And maybe there'd be a way to arrange a tour of something as a part of the deal. Anyway . . . interesting thought. All depends on how much rent they want and what it would take to sell tickets.

This would require someone at the airport to actually go out of their way to plan/promote a fun event that might be somewhat informative. I think we all know the chances of that are about 0.000000001%. It would be cool though. Even offering a tours or something would be fun. They had discussed tours in the past but I guess they decided that would be way nice of a thing to do. 

Honestly not a bad idea. Could be used as forced community engagement? 
Have larger discussions/networking about all projects in St. Louis but also gather feedback on what the Airport could do better on...
I feel they'd at least hear out the concerns. 

I'd be willing to pay $25 or $50 for entry and a beer. I'd also be willing to help plan.

$50 for entry and a beer - I'd be down for that

I'm in!

Can we add STL Not For Sale as a "sponsor"? Having an event for them at the Airport?

Count me in too and I could bring one or two other folks as well.  I'd be willing to pay in the $50 - 60 price range for drinks and cold hors-d'oeuvres.  I don't know if STL would allow an outside caterer, or to bring in trays prepared by Schnucks or Dierbergs.

This could be a really nice event, if properly planned.  I'm also willing to help in whatever way I'd be useful.

jshank83 wrote: This would require someone at the airport to actually go out of their way to plan/promote a fun event that might be somewhat informative. I think we all know the chances of that are about 0.000000001%. It would be cool though. Even offering a tours or something would be fun. They had discussed tours in the past but I guess they decided that would be way nice of a thing to do. 

Back in 2001 (pre-9/11), a group of FlyerTalk members arranged for a meetup at the former Ambassador Club at the end of C.  Not sure who planned / got permission to do so, but it was a fun event.

^That sort of thing isn't necessarily impossible, even now. The airlines periodically issue gate passes to people to help friends or relatives that need assistance for one reason or other. (Entirely at the airline's discretion, I believe.) I think it's DFW that has a hotel where you need a gate pass just to get in and out, thus all guests at the hotel get one for the duration of their stay. I can only assume the airport can do the same in order to take potential developers to see airside features. You go through screening the same as everyone else, of course. And they'd probably avoid doing it at peak hours. But hey, what good party is during rush hour? And if the tour is just in B or non-airside portions of the facility then the screening isn't even an issue. Lord knows there's plenty of neat stuff landside and in non-public areas. Anyway . . . could we make it two beers? I mean . . . Metrolink.  All right. If someone can make this happen I'll go in. If you need an outside A/V provider I can even help you find one. One that does airshows and is therefore used to the peculiarities of working around airports. Anyway . . . 

Maybe if enough people show, the whole convention can an bug the airport to finally give tours in C and D. Maybe make some picket signs while you're at it.

I don't want to picket the airport. I like the place. How about cheering squad signs?

That could work too. Call some cheerleaders too. Maybe get on the news just because of how absurd it would be to do that at an airport.

Is there any plan to reopen B anytime soon? If at all? Or will it be a rental space for now on?

Perseus767 wrote: Is there any plan to reopen B anytime soon? If at all? Or will it be a rental space for now on?

I can't image it is anything more than event space for the foreseeable future. I would think they would have to fill up the rest of C and D before anything is considered with it. I think there would be some major construction renovations before we get to the points B is used. 

The only caveat to that is if they decide to make it an international concourse for non Southwest flights. I don't know the likely hood of that (probably pretty low) but they are looking for another space so I guess it would be possible. Would probably be pretty tight though. 

jshank83 wrote: Finished up my frequency spreadsheet for June. 

I also added seat counts for the Legacys. I did seat counts for Mondays so they don't exactly tell you the full count difference YoY but it gives you and idea

MAX changes meant 29 fewer weekly flights from WN than were scheduled. I have the original MAX numbers in the final tab.

Thanks!  FYI- tapatalk is trying to embed the doc vs just publish the link, didn't work on Edge or Chrome for me...

Well, I am back from Europe, flying on American from St.Louis (concourse C) out through Chicago and in through Charlotte.

First, C Concourse in St. Louis.  This was my first time since the decommissioning of the TWA/ American hub.  While it was neat to see some planes up close (Contour, Alaska) the concourse is a shell of its former self.  Was not busy at all and it seems like they have filled in gaps in gates with some OK things (kids play area, for example) it also feels like the gates are so spread out it disperses the travelers even more.  Ate dinner at Chili's, which was super busy (short staffed, though).  Walked to the current end of the course and it just felt sad to me (knowing what it once was).  Oh - my flight was 6:30 ish on a Friday afternoon.  I thought that was a pretty peak time and it would be busier.

I want to be clear that I am not trying to be negative.   Terminal 2 is just a much different experience.

Now, not to harp too much on other airports, since this is a STL thread .. but:

1) Had a terrible international experience connecting to a BA flight in Chicago.  We were delayed, deplaned AFTER 8 PM, when the secure bus shuttle between terminals had stopped running so I had to exit the terminal, use an unsecured bus shuttle and re clear security, almost missing my BA flight.  BA ticket agents were not sure why STL gate agents did not give me a boarding pass for my BA flight.   I was not the only one.  The few of us pretty much pushed our way through security by saying our flight was moments away.  At least people let us through.

2) Returning through Charlotte - we were held on the tarmac for 40 minutes waiting for a gate in the international terminal to open (learned later flights from Rome and Montego Bay had similar issues).  THEN had to wait in an enormous line to clear customs, to have to re clear security again.

Seemed to me like these airports are over clogged and need assistance, while others (like STL) have capacity.  AND employees at those airports were not much help.  When I reported to the person trying to shove us through security in Charlotte that my flight was departing in 10-15 minutes, the response was 'you better get in line'.   I was literally running through the airport and refrained from the restroom even though I needed to go.  Charlotte also had other international carriers on the ground - Lufthansa, for example.  We really need to get a direct flight AND make sure we can do better clearing travelers.  I would not recommend either Chicago or Charlotte after my experience :/  Note - this was my FIRST time international - perhaps it was an exception.