AUSTIN | ABIA Updates - Page 302

ILUVSAT · #**6021** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 9:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freerover

These two words should never be next to each other.

True...

Jdawgboy · #**6022** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 11:46 PM**

I'm not going to say much other than what ILUVSAT has heard lines up pretty well with what I have heard through my source. Despite what the naysayers think, fun things are on the horizon for our airport. Patience young patawines. (Just for the record, probably didn't spell that right lol)

wwmiv · #**6023** Posted **Mar 22, 2019, 11:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

patawines. (Just for the record, probably didn't spell that right lol)

padawan

the Genral · #**6024** Posted **Mar 23, 2019, 12:44 AM**

Darh Vader was a patawiner in his younger days.

Besides an Asian non stop announcement, the next really big announce would have to be a ground breaking date for the next expansion. A friend of mine is a shuttle bus driver at the airport. He said many of his passengers hate the hassle of the south terminal.

freerover · #**6025** Posted **Mar 23, 2019, 3:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Genral

Darh Vader was a patawiner in his younger days.

Besides an Asian non stop announcement, the next really big announce would have to be a ground breaking date for the next expansion. A friend of mine is a shuttle bus driver at the airport. He said many of his passengers hate the hassle of the south terminal.

Ummm no. There is a lot of work and city council approvals (at least 3) for the next cip which determines groundbreaking. Current estimate if everything goes to plan is a groundbreaking summer 2020 for West Infill and Summer 2021 for North Terminal and Center Concourse.

khowaga · #**6026** Posted **Mar 23, 2019, 6:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freerover

Ummm no. There is a lot of work and city council approvals (at least 3) for the next cip which determines groundbreaking. Current estimate if everything goes to plan is a groundbreaking summer 2020 for West Infill and Summer 2021 for North Terminal and Center Concourse.

I don’t even think they’ve gotten the okay to get architectural plans and surveys done yet. Let’s open the current expansion fully first

Also, and ... love the optimism ... but I don’t think a TPAC announcement is imminent. Granted, not even people with the port saw BA’s announcement coming, but I’d be surprised if it happened before 2020.

Edit I just realized 2020 is next year. So maybe “I don’t think it’s imminent” is the wrong way to phrase it.

AvgeekDL · #**6027** Posted **Mar 23, 2019, 9:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

For what it's worth...I had a long conversation with a retiring Delta pilot (who so happens to be retiring to Austin) on my way to the Bay Area. Anyway, he basically confirmed the long-run rumors that Delta is going to greatly expand their AUS presence and create a small hub. However, the major expansion may not come until the satellite concourse is up and running. To his knowledge, Delta would take over the new concourse with its 20 gates (~2025). And, they would expand as service expands (i.e., add the additional 12 gates by 2030ish).

That's just what I heard and he sounded pretty confident that this is what's going to happen. Obviously, we shall see. Things can change. But, it makes sense. Unless DL buys-out or bullies another airline(s) for additional gates, there's not enough room at the current terminal to even think about DL making AUS a true focus city right now.

To clarify, did he say an actual connecting hub or a focus city? I have found sometimes people can get the two mixed up.

I'm with the consensus that I'll believe it when I see it. We've heard things like this for quite a while now, but Delta hasn't added anything yet.

GoldenBoot · #**6028** Posted **Mar 24, 2019, 2:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by AvgeekDL

...but Delta hasn't added anything yet.

Why would they? They run on their time, not yours.

If the project is a few years off, there is no need to announce anything publically (or make any major additions) at the juncture. Heck, they only have four gates at the moment...how many flights do you honestly think they can add with so few gates?

It's people like you who ran off our best insider, Austin1971.

Nonetheless, I bet there is quite a bit working behind the scenes if DL is going to take over (or have a substantial stake) in the forthcoming satellite concourse.

If the rumors hold true, Delta will make an announcement when it is appropriate for them to do so.

We vs us · #**6029** Posted **Mar 24, 2019, 12:42 PM**

This board has amazing accuracy when it comes to reporting rumors. This is the place to come for the first rumblings of literally any project in Austin. But that's one of the rubs of what we see here -- it's almost always first-run information, and while when it gets reported here it's almost undoubtedly true, it's also subject to change as the projects move along.

As an inexperienced watcher of airports, that seems to be where the Delta news has gone. I feel like we got whiffs of what Delta was planning several years back but a timeline was never really on the table, and the extent to which Delta was planning on moving in to AUS was never fully known, EVEN THOUGH it emerged about the time construction on the Delta club and the 9 gate expansion kicked into high gear.

Just from watching the convo evolve here, it seemed pretty fair to say that the new 9 gates weren't going to satisfy the amount of Delta that Delta ultimately seems to want to put here -- especially when we know that every other carrier is clamoring for expanded ops here. I feel like the new expansion was to lift capacity for a variety of carriers, not just Delta -- and that was a first order need at AUS.

And it does seem to make sense for it to track the larger master plan expansion. That's the place where a dedicated carrier can guide the process, have much more say in how the port re-envisions itself, etc. It's obviously much farther out, but it would seem to be the best place to jump in for major increase in operations.

What I think we might be tracking is an actual change in Delta's strategy for AUS as it makes it -- starting with a commitment to the new 9-gate expansion with its new lounge, but then pivoting into a stronger but longer term commitment to a new physical area of the terminal (heck, an actual new terminal altogether).

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

It's people like you who ran off our best insider, Austin1971.

People don't leave this board because they're confronted with different opinions. People leave this board because other people aren't treating them well. Pretty straightforward.

the Genral · #**6030** Posted **Mar 24, 2019, 1:38 PM**

[QUOTE=We vs us;851

People don't leave this board because they're confronted with different opinions. People leave this board because other people aren't treating them well. Pretty straightforward.[/QUOTE]

Yep, But I also thought Austin 1971 was told by the port to stop because he was divulging info that shouldn't have been. I could be wrong as I am constantly reminded here

GoldenBoot · #**6031** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 1:42 AM**

We vs us, thank you for eloquent descriptive. You are correct. My apologies to Avgeekdl.

We vs us · #**6032** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 1:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

We vs us, thank you for eloquent descriptive. You are correct. My apologies to Avgeekdl.

AvgeekDL · #**6033** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 2:32 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

We vs us, thank you for eloquent descriptive. You are correct. My apologies to Avgeekdl.

It's all good. I know you didn't mean any malicious intent, I understand people have been upset that Austin1971 isn't posting anymore. In fairness though, looking back on his posts, he never actually stated the reason why he left, he just said he is going to be a lurker for now on, whatever that means. Thank you also to We vs us for that explanation. You brought up some good points that I hadn't thought of before.

To clarify my point, I am not looking for a huge Delta expansion right now, all I am stating is we've been hearing so much behind the scenes chatter that it would be nice to see something concrete come out. Delta should be able to get up to 60-70 flights a day (not too far off from Raleigh/Durham) within the gates it will have access to in the extension. Given Southwest's recent issues with operations, now would be a good time for Delta to start capitalizing on that and expanding. Perhaps they are simply waiting for the Sky Club to open.

But I agree with your point, they operate on their timetable, not ours. We just go to be patient. Nothing but good days ahead for ABIA!

Jdawgboy · #**6034** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 4:52 AM**

Actually he did mention once or twice that he had been reprimanded due to posting information on this forum meaning someone who knew his handle and who he was has been monitoring this forum. I mean it stands to reason that there are probably officials with the port who monitor local forums. It is a shame but yes the reason he no longer posts is due to him getting in trouble.

khowaga · #**6035** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 1:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by AvgeekDL

But I agree with your point, they operate on their timetable, not ours. We just go to be patient. Nothing but good days ahead for ABIA!

I also think the reason that we've had so many false starts is that we've had people who seem to have good information offer dates when this was supposed to appear: we were at one point told DL was going to get most of the new extension, that the SkyClub would have showers (indicating the potential for intercontinental service), that DL was going to have doubled the amount of flights it offers by August of 2019, etc.

We were told over a year ago that "in a year, the picture at ABIA will look completely different than it does now," and I'm personally not sure LH adding a 5x weekly flight and Spirit's entry--while not nothing--are also really deserving of that sort of description and it begs the question of what the OP thought was coming down the pike when they said it.

I mean, it's entirely possible that what's going on behind the scenes is also in constant flux and the new target date is 2025, but if we'd been told from the beginning in 2017 that all of this was at least 8 years off we also probably wouldn't have had the level of speculation and anticipation (and frustration) that have been expressed from time to time.

Ultimately, GoldenBoot is right: DL is operating on their own timetable, and what is going to happen is going to happen when it happens!

ATXboom · #**6036** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 2:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by khowaga

GoldenBoot is right: DL is operating on their own timetable, and what is going to happen is going to happen when it happens!

Edit. DL is constrained by the airport expansion schedule. They simply don’t have capacity here to expand significantly until the new terminal comes online... even if they wanted to.

freerover · #**6037** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 5:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATXboom

Edit. DL is constrained by the airport expansion schedule. They simply don’t have capacity here to expand significantly until the new terminal comes online... even if they wanted to.

I don't agree with this. They are going to be doubling the amount of gates once the new east expansion opens. I think they are over capacity on their current gates so I don't think we can expect double of what they are doing now but we can expect a considerable increase in number of flights and destinations. I think you guys are making too big a deal about having a Hub considering the hub model is becoming less and less relevant. More Gates = More Flights. I think people need to chill out and disconnect their emotional well being to Delta's announcements.

In terms of the Eastern expansion, 2 of the singer gates are still assembled and 1 of them is still operating. The other haven't been hauled away yet so not much work has been done on the final gates. I was assuming they were waiting for the busy SXSW schedule to finish. We'll see how long it takes to get them out of there. The south gates are suppose to go live in May.

ILUVSAT · #**6038** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 7:27 PM**

Here are the number of gates from which Delta operates at the following airports:

JFK - 49
LAX - 24
BOS - 21
SEA - ~17 (seeking 30)

AUS - seeking 20-30 gates?!?

*please don't skewer me, I might bet off a few...

khowaga · #**6039** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 7:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATXboom

Edit. DL is constrained by the airport expansion schedule. They simply don’t have capacity here to expand significantly until the new terminal comes online... even if they wanted to.

I meant what I said.

The question is what is meant by "significant."

DL is doubling the number of gates it had pre-extension, which, as freerover pointed out, gives them the flexibility to increase service much sooner than 2025.

Yes, they might have been using their limited gates above their desired capacity, so it may not be a 100% increase from current service levels, but they do have the ability to add quite a bit of service once they are fully moved in in May. To me, even a 50% increase is "significant."

Their summer schedule, which was released some time ago, does not seem to reflect this, however -- hence some of the puzzlement and curiosity on this forum.

And my comment that they're going to do what they're going to do...when they're going to do it.

I also agree with freerover's comment about the hub model: the rumors have only ever been about a focus city, which is meant to capture O&D traffic. Yes, focus cities can also accommodate connecting traffic, but that's not their primary function in Delta's business model.

khowaga · #**6040** Posted **Mar 25, 2019, 8:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

Here are the number of gates from which Delta operates at the following airports:

JFK - 49
LAX - 24
BOS - 21
SEA - ~17 (seeking 30)

AUS - seeking 20-30 gates?!?

DL's focus cities are SEA, BOS, and RDU, so they would be the best analogues to (what we think they're planning for) AUS; JFK and LAX are considered hubs.

my best estimate for RDU is 11 gates?