urbanSTL

It'd be interesting to see data on where Lambert users come from, since it serves a pretty big radius, 100-200 miles or whatever.

And I'd definitely choose BLV depending on nonstop offerings and/or flight times.

Link to renderings of the proposed BLV expansion, not all are included below. PDF with floorplans and estimated cost is also in the link. 

2 new gates

https://www.blvmasterplan.com/documents ... chapter-2/

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Sep 02, 2020

Link to renderings of the proposed BLV expansion, not all are included below. PDF with floorplans and estimated cost is also in the link. 

2 new gates

https://www.blvmasterplan.com/documents ... chapter-2/

That straight up looks like crap.  At the very least, they couldn't have continued the arched roof across the new portion?  

Bart Harley Jarvis wrote: ↑

Sep 02, 2020

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Sep 02, 2020

Link to renderings of the proposed BLV expansion, not all are included below. PDF with floorplans and estimated cost is also in the link. 

2 new gates

https://www.blvmasterplan.com/documents ... chapter-2/

That straight up looks like crap.  At the very least, they couldn't have continued the arched roof across the new portion?  

Yes, those renderings are pretty blah. 

My only two thoughts are
1. This is more of the placeholder and when/if they get to the point they actual build they will spruce it up and add more detail.
or
2. They don't want to spend a ton of money on it and just want to spend the minimum to do the project since it isn't a high use airport.

On the one hand I would like it to look nicer but on the other hand, I am not sure MidAmerica needs to be dumping a bunch of more money into that airport. 

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Sep 02, 2020

Bart Harley Jarvis wrote: ↑

Sep 02, 2020

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Sep 02, 2020

Link to renderings of the proposed BLV expansion, not all are included below. PDF with floorplans and estimated cost is also in the link. 

2 new gates

https://www.blvmasterplan.com/documents ... chapter-2/

That straight up looks like crap.  At the very least, they couldn't have continued the arched roof across the new portion?  

Yes, those renderings are pretty blah. 

My only two thoughts are
1. This is more of the placeholder and when/if they get to the point they actual build they will spruce it up and add more detail.
or
2. They don't want to spend a ton of money on it and just want to spend the minimum to do the project since it isn't a high use airport.

On the one hand I would like it to look nicer but on the other hand, I am not sure MidAmerica needs to be dumping a bunch of more money into that airport. 

Yes, but it could still be better than "a rectangle" as their inspiration.  

Does this airport even warrant the traffic for a mini expansion? It just seems like a waste to me. Maybe they're thinking the MetroLink expansion and this terminal expansion will make them get another flight or something. They'd at least have a connection, but a long connection, to Lambert via rail. Regardless, it seems pointless. 

As for the design, it's basic but it gets the job done. HOK is the architect on this based on the PDF. The finished product will probably end up looking better than what's shown in these very basic renderings. But this is a second-tier airport when compared to Lambert, and as such, the design reflects that. This isn't a place that you have to arrive 2 hours before your flight. You could arrive 30 minutes before and be good to go. 

Ehh, they were adding more flights with Allegiant before COVID, with some discussions about international desitnation(s) that would require an additional baggage claim.  Without COVID they would have probably hit 400k-ish total passengers in 2020. Since they're looking at a 20 year forecast period for planning, I could easily see how a terminal addition makes sense.  Probably helps with trying to negotiate new flights too. "Hey, we have a shiny new terminal addition with dedicated gates for you to use!" Maybe try to steal away Frontier from Lambert or add Spirit. 

Laife Fulk wrote: ↑

Sep 02, 2020

Ehh, they were adding more flights with Allegiant before COVID, with some discussions about international desitnation(s) that would require an additional baggage claim.  Without COVID they would have probably hit 400k-ish total passengers in 2020. Since they're looking at a 20 year forecast period for planning, I could easily see how a terminal addition makes sense.  Probably helps with trying to negotiate new flights too. "Hey, we have a shiny new terminal addition with dedicated gates for you to use!" Maybe try to steal away Frontier from Lambert or add Spirit. 

Does Spirit serve St. Louis? I'm out of the loop on that but I've never seen their yellow planes at Lambert when I've driven by. I know they're in KC and Nashville. 

If this expansion were to go through, I would like to see some more flights in and out of MidAmerica. Maybe daily flights. If Spirit were to go here and Allegiant were to remain, I think there would be enough gates for daily flights. 4 or 5 Gates. The Allegiant ones could be flexible with Spirit and what not

Spirit does not.  So they could be a definite target for BLV.

Allegiant has added bases at a lot of smaller airports with similar schedules to MidAmerica. I would think midamerica would be on the shortlist to get one. They usually base 2 planes and add some support staff/pilots. It lets them have earlier flights out and later flights in. They rarely overnight any crews anywhere. Pretty much everyone flies out and back the same day so they can be home every night. That’s why you don’t see them doing many longer flights. Adding a base here opens up options so they can fly to other cities that aren’t bases.

They are a little bit in a catch 22 situation. They could use more gates/space. But at any time allegiant could get bought out/go under or whatever so you would hate to add on and lose your only airline and now you are in a Lambert new runway situation.

I guess the good part for them is the feds are going to end up paying for a big chunk of it.

That all said we don’t know the start date for this project or if there even is one. I would hope they have some sort of confidence that allegiant would add more flights before they get this started.

I’m sure spirit is an option but they seem to be moving more towards the major airports and away from secondary ones lately. Fees at lambert are getting low enough now that they might not have as much incentive to go into midamerica.

I didn't see it mentioned in here, but a new airline, created by the JetBlue Founder David Neeleman, will have an operation at MidAmerica when the service launches next year. Breeze Airways will be a low-cost airline and it will initially serve 25 secondary airport destinations across the United States via non-stop service. The full list is found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeze_Airways

The first flights will be on 28 Embraer E195s that come from Azul Airlines. Eventually, 60 new Airbus A220-300s will join the fleet, which will increase the daily flights across the board: https://thepointsguy.com/news/breeze-ai ... -neeleman/

The founder of Breeze, and in addition to JetBlue, has also founded WestJet, Morris Air, and Azul Airlines. So Mr. Neeleman knows what he's doing. This could be reason for MidAmerica to expand as I wonder if this will have more flights weekly than Allegiant. If that's the case, the two extra case would come in handy on days when Allegiant has flights in and out of MidAmerica.

Company website: https://www.flybreeze.com

Embraer Livery...

AirBus 220-300 Livery Design

And something minor, Cara Spencer's campaign website mentions MidAmerica as a "International Airport". Her site says specifically...

Soon, a second international airport in the region, in Illinois, will be connected to it by light rail.

It's minor but interesting that is is mentioned as an international airport. 
https://caraspencer4mayor.com/issues/a- ... airport-2/

Mid America does have Customs capabilities, which are used by MidAmerica Fresh.  MidAmerica is both a Foreign Trade Zone and US Port of Entry. And it has done a bit of international cargo logistics historically (Asia, South America, etc).  No clue how much international cargo it handles currently.

FWIW, there are smaller regional airports that are technically also "international" airports.  Decatur, IL has the same Foreign Trade Zone designation and Customs capabilities since ADM corporate jets do fly internationally from it occasionally.

chriss752 wrote: ↑

Sep 09, 2020

Actually, this is unconfirmed but we will see soon enough. Hopefully they come since Allegiant is on shaky ground as a result of corona. Fewer leisure trips this year took their toll.

Allegiant is probably on okay financial ground. Leisure has been the one sector that hasn’t been bad. Their numbers hit to passengers hasn’t been near as bad as others who rely on business travel. They had at least one or two months they broke even over summer money wise, which is better than other airlines. Now they probably didn’t have the cash reserves bigger airlines had but I think that are doing okay.

Feds have awarded a $6 Million grant for the expansion of the airport. The money will also go towards critical infrastructure and safety projects to improve operations.

Work on some projects will begin in 60 days with all planned projects, including the airport extension, being complete by 2023.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... ssion=true

I was curious how Allegiant is doing load % wise thru the pandemic. 
Actually not too bad. 

Numbers for June (I would expect July to be better) 
Destin 77.5% 
Punta Gorda 74% 
St. Pete 69.5% 
Jacksonville 66% 
Orlando 59% 
Fort Laud 58% 
Myrtle Beach 55% 
Vegas 51.5% 
Sarasota 47% 
Savannah 40% -New

I went by this airport earlier on the way to a family member's house. No work has started on the expansion yet, but a Holland Construction trailer was on site.

The airport parking had a decent amount of cars in it. Clearly it wasn't full, but there were enough cars there that seemed like a normal crowd for this airport. There was one Allegiant Plane at a Gate here today. People were arriving with their things when I was there. I imagine this is where you can arrive 15 minutes before your flight leaves and not have to worry about it since the airport sits pretty empty. Quick check in, security and you're good to go. 





You can see the parked plane peeking out here.

Boeing looking to expand at mid America.

https://amp.bnd.com/news/local/article2 ... ssion=true

Good news I guess

kipfilet wrote: ↑

Jan 07, 2021

Good news I guess

Nothing ground breaking but I hope it works out. I'd like to see the airport get to break even money wise. 

Construction has begun

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... 2#cxrecs_s