urbanSTL

Looks like we have a good chance to get Quincy flights back. 

Hours ahead of Quincy Aeronautics Committee meeting slated for noon Wednesday, Quincy Mayor Kyle Moore and Quincy Regional Airport Director Sandra Shore announced they would be recommending the committee select Cape Air to be the new essential air service provider for the local airport.

https://wgem.com/2019/07/31/mayor-to-re ... in-quincy/

Update:

Officially recommend. Can’t see any reason DOT wouldn’t approve.

https://khqa.com/news/local/quincy-aero ... t-services

STL to get $5.29 million from feds in grants, money will be used for taxiway improvement.


By James Long | July 31, 2019 at 3:19 PM CDT - Updated July 31 at 5:51 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KFVS) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded $478 million in airport infrastructure grants across the U.S.
Lambert International Airport will received $5.29 million of those funds. The announcement was made by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

The grant for the St. Louis airport will be used for taxiway rehabilitation. “This significant investment in airport improvements in St. Louis will fund construction and rehabilitation projects that will help maintain high levels of safety in U.S. aviation,” Chao said.

https://www.kfvs12.com/2019/07/31/st-lo ... rovements/

So obviously this isn't set in stone yet but we are only 2 months from October and currently Delta has all mainline scheduled to ATL/MSP/DTW/SLC. Cincy's CRJ200 flight is up gauged to a CRJ900. If that holds it would be great to see.

Made it. Let me know if you see any errors!


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Great graphic, thanks!

^^^Very nice indeed! Where did you get the information that the city is reopening D 2-10? Is that official? I know it would be fairly simple to use them as ground gates out of the old Ozark commuter gates, but those have been mothballed forever. (The parking spots on the apron have been fairly continuously in use, even if the doors in and out of the terminal have not.) Maybe those Air Choice One and Cape Air bids have something to do with this? Interesting stuff.

symphonicpoet wrote: ^^^Very nice indeed! Where did you get the information that the city is reopening D 2-10? Is that official? I know it would be fairly simple to use them as ground gates out of the old Ozark commuter gates, but those have been mothballed forever. (The parking spots on the apron have been fairly continuously in use, even if the doors in and out of the terminal have not.) Maybe those Air Choice One and Cape Air bids have something to do with this? Interesting stuff.

He airport lists those as city gates on their own chart. Just for one off charters I think. I think couple have jetways.

Heard more talk recently about Southwest opening more gates (sooner than I thought) and D opening all the way up for walking through though... So that chart might need updated soon.

I figured if Rhonda mentioned it at the AVgeek event that it was going to happen sooner than later. 

^ Must be a newer version of the chart than the last one I saw. Yeah, you're doubtless direct about the timeline.

symphonicpoet wrote: ^ Must be a newer version of the chart than the last one I saw. Yeah, you're doubtless direct about the timeline.

https://www.flystl.com/uploads/document ... n-2018.pdf

That is the latest one the airport put out. Over a year old. I think he started with that then updated it for new airlines (sun/contour). But he can correct me if I am wrong

addxb2 wrote:

Awesome! Very urban and yet fresh feel. Now can you redesign the airport logo

No reason why these rankings should matter that much, but Lambert was just ranked as 15th best airport in the US by The Points Guy:
https://thepointsguy.com/news/tpg-best- ... ssion=true

^^^ You hit the nail on the head - STL is efficient and easy to navigate -- which is really all one needs in an airport.  Plus, it's bright (now) and clean.

The mega airports, like LAX, can afford to be exotic because they have longer layovers and people have to arrive much earlier for their international flights.  These folks need to be entertained and distracted while they're waiting.

At STL, most people are catching their domestic destination flight or flying to a hub for their connecting international flight.  There isn't the need for an abundance of distractions here -- just a number of grab and go type places, charging stations, and restrooms.  Chapels, unique shops, and sit down restaurants are nice, and great fun to look at as one is walking by to their gate, but these places are not why people go to airports.  The vast majority of people I see are plugged into their phones and don't pay attention to much, if anything, that's going on around them.

^ well at Terminal 2 there is a need for more amenities with a sizable portion of that traffic is connecting. There has been good improvements in recent years to improve amenities for those travelers.

Interesting comments about how Southwest might need those gates sooner. Definitely sounds like a good increase is coming as soon as the MAX returns to service and will be bigger than the flights they were planning on having but had to pull back.

Completely agree with frequentflyer above. I think STL does what it is supposed to do extremely well: easy to navigate, quick security times, etc. I kind of wish there was a United or Delta lounge on Concourse A, but this is a 1st world problem!

Airport authority recommends Cape Air for airline service (My edit: Service to be Split Between STL/BNA)
Posted: Aug 07, 2019 10:13 PM CDT Updated: Aug 08, 2019 4:06 PM CDT
By Fahima Paghmani
 


MARION (WSIL) -- You're one step closer to flying to a new destination. The Williamson County Airport Authority decided to keep the current airline operating out of Veterans Airport in Marion.

Doug Kimmel, airport director, says it was a tough but fair decision to recommend Cape Air as the airport's next carrier.
"It was a pretty good indication that folks really want to see the continuations of the services that we have with the new aircraft," says Kimmel.
Travelers will continue to be able to fly into St. Louis but now, also Nashville, Tennessee. 

CAPE AIR PLANS TO INTRODUCE NEW AIRCRAFT 
The Cape Air proposal also includes the introduction of a new aircraft. The Tecnam P2012 Traveller that will provide more cabin and luggage space. "We felt it wasn't an appropriate time to change service providers when they're about to introduce a new aircraft," says Kimmel.
Business owner and traveler, Jason Chrzan, says he doesn't have an issue with Cape Air. Chrzan believes flights to and from Chicago would better serve southern Illinois.  "What I would like to believe is that, if we had the jet service and the economic development had followed it here, that hopefully we could add a second airline to the airport," says Chrzan,

FLIGHTS TO ST. LOUIS AND NASHVILLE
He says St. Louis and Nashville are very close to this region and travelers would get more out of their money if they were traveling farther. 
"The northern half of our state isn't even connected to the southern part of our state," says Chrzan. 

Kimmel says the region once offered flights to Chicago Midway, but not a lot of people used those flights. But, Chrzan says that's because those flights didn't go to O'Hare and he's hoping that those flights to come back to the region again. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation must still approve the selection. They're expected to do so in September.

*****
From this prior article, total number of flights is 36, with Nashville getting 9 or 12 of those flights.
https://thesouthern.com/news/local/st-l ... 65374.html

 Typically I agree with you, I call a cab/uber from my downtown office about 1 hour - 1h20 before the flight departs. But there's often delays, cancellations, etc. I have spent many hours at Lambert as a result of this.

^^ In my business travels I find having the consolidated car rental at the airport is a big plus for me and will take less time between connecting flights over a lounge any day of the week..   Jacksonville and New Orleans being two of my favorites for the quick walk to Delta counter after dropping off the rental car.   I just don't like shuttles, time consuming and pain nor do I rarely stay at hotels near airports.  Plus the shuttle for the other car rental place or hotel always seems to show up before the one I need.  I think Lambert not having a Consolidated Car Rental facility is one of the missing links for being a better airport.

I also have to admit that It was sure nice having access to a lounge on my few international business trips.   

Cut out part of D closest to T1 and build CCR in between T1 & T2/D/E with a new enclosed metro link station.  Of course, will take my opportunity to argue that a long term plan should be to demo B for a new T1 single security/customs access point on a linear concourse by connecting A & C as one.   The extra T1 and D gates will let you phase construction.   For good measure, you can plop a hotel tower on top of B footprint as well with killer views of the runways/airport ops.  

^ the rental car facility would be a nice improvement. The issue is where one would go in STL. I am guessing the area where the fuel storage is now would be too small? Since that is a space that will open up with a new facility coming in.

I think trying to put it in D is no longer a possbility due to the growth of Southwest and it sounds like the reopening is on the horizon. A unified T1 security area makes sense too so thing can be evened out since it could be A or C is unbalanced lines at different times of the day. The area around B could be used for either amenities, airline lounges, and/or a new international arrivals area.