Calgary International Airport II

[hehehe]

Originally Posted by Tobuz

Comparing to 2019, Calgary used to have lots of service from lots of carriers. AC treated Calgary as a hub (albeit a small one) with lots of non-stop destinations and tons of connections via Star Alliance. WestJet was a big player in a competitive market.

Since then, most carriers seem to have ceded YYC to WestJet.

A conservative schedule release from WestJet really is surprising given that other airlines have drawn down YYC so much.

(As for "people having less money to spend" ... that's true, to a point. But not so much with the traveller demographic. Flights out of YYC are jam-packed, and those tickets are being purchased at higher fares than I've ever seen in my life. Hotels everywhere are charging ridiculously high room rates - now and through the Christmas season - and they're selling them without discounting. The travel economy is still red hot.)

it's a bit sad that WS has sort of ran off AS, AC etc from a bunch of routes and then downgrades them to lower than pre covid frequency/capacity. So now we have less frequency and fewer airline options.

[casper]

Originally Posted by hehehe

A few increases but mostly cuts it appears? (also domestically a decent amount of cuts). I'm a bit surprised SEA is down to 6x weekly

Yes, that is surprising given the onward connections on Delta out of SEA that are available.

[Tobuz]

Originally Posted by hehehe

it's a bit sad that ws has sort of ran off as, ac etc from a bunch of routes and then downgrades them to lower than pre covid frequency/capacity. So now we have less frequency and fewer airline options.

100%.

... and that's why, even though I live in the city where my airline is based and where they have their one-and-only hub, I still find that I often need to fly on UA, AA, and others, and I often have to connect through other cities to get to (even some major) destinations.

[hollywoodcory]

Originally Posted by msmariner

How about HOU, LAS, ANA

IAH 11x weekly (no Sat flight)
LAS 22x weekly?
SNA Up to 3x weekly

[hehehe]

YQM/YYT going year round 2x weekly each

[MalcolmTucker]

After the last year, they're leaving more room for recovery I guess, plus the aforementioned fleet renewals.

[YYCFlier]

Originally Posted by Tobuz

Comparing to 2019, Calgary used to have lots of service from lots of carriers. AC treated Calgary as a hub (albeit a small one) with lots of non-stop destinations and tons of connections via Star Alliance. WestJet was a big player in a competitive market.

Since then, most carriers seem to have ceded YYC to WestJet.

I don't really see this. The capacity AC withdrew from YYC was primarily domestic regional operations (Jazz) and sun destinations. All of these are well-covered by WS or ULCCs, despite me preferring otherwise. But, YYC is de-hubbed, for sure. Major O&D remains though: LHR, FRA, EWR and LAX.

Beyond that, who has really reduced ops? Yes, AS did, but they never recovered service from the pandemic. Prior to 2020 they ran 3x daily, and DL ran 2-3x daily on SEA. Having ceded SEA to WS, the DL flights just moved, there's no additional capacity, so it's likely AS would have cut service anyway. It probably has more to do with AS killing DH4 ops than anything.

KL is still running AMS and up-gauged to a 772.
Condor is gone, but Eurowings took their place to FRA.
Edelweiss is still running to ZRH.
UA increased service - took over SFO and ran IAD this summer.

So, other than AS becoming difficult to use due to lack of connectivity to SEA, and AC's withdrawal from domestic and sun operations (and giving some trans-border ops to UA), what has YYC really lost due to WS? I agree it's a fortress hub now, but I don't agree with "Calgary used to have lots of service from other carriers". Very little service from other carriers has been lost if you don't count AC.

[YYCFlier]

Originally Posted by ace.yyc

Transat's entire European operation is gone.

They also withdrew from YVR. Was this more a strategic withdrawal to the east over WS' dominance at YYC? Would it have happened anyway if WS hadn't refocused on the west?

[casper]

Originally Posted by YYCFlier

They also withdrew from YVR. Was this more a strategic withdrawal to the east over WS' dominance at YYC? Would it have happened anyway if WS hadn't refocused on the west?

They have a codeshare in place with Porter. I assume going forward they serve YYC and YVR through connections in Toronto using Porter. It is disappointing AirTransat has not put their code on the Porter YYJ flight yet.

Porter adding Montreal would be idea as well for onward connections.

[Tobuz]

Originally Posted by YYCFlier

what has YYC really lost due to WS?

Frequencies to key U.S. hubs, which means connectivity via those hubs.

For example, UA has less capacity on YYC-IAH largely because WS has taken over a big chunk of the volume. Going from 3 UA/AC flights per day to 2 (sometimes only one) on UA still connects YYC with IAH, but reduced capacity and timing kills many viable United connections at IAH. When WestJet came in and picked up a big chunk of the O/D traffic between the two cities, the resulting UA pullback meant many viable connections at IAH become either more difficult or impossible. Houston is a dead end for WS. It's a massive gateway for UA/AC. I'd rather UA fly there from here.

Similar situation with SFO, DEN and ORD. Anytime WS has started flying from YYC to another airline's hub - and they pick up a chunk of the O/D traffic - it hurts connectivity to/from YYC by making global hubs harder to access.

[msmariner]

Originally Posted by Tobuz

Frequencies to key U.S. hubs, which means connectivity via those hubs.

For example, UA has less capacity on YYC-IAH largely because WS has taken over a big chunk of the volume. Going from 3 UA/AC flights per day to 2 (sometimes only one) on UA still connects YYC with IAH, but reduced capacity and timing kills many viable United connections at IAH. When WestJet came in and picked up a big chunk of the O/D traffic between the two cities, the resulting UA pullback meant many viable connections at IAH become either more difficult or impossible. Houston is a dead end for WS. It's a massive gateway for UA/AC. I'd rather UA fly there from here.

Similar situation with SFO, DEN and ORD. Anytime WS has started flying from YYC to another airline's hub - and they pick up a chunk of the O/D traffic - it hurts connectivity to/from YYC by making global hubs harder to access.

Seems like your cherry picking some routes/Airlines. How about the addition of Delta Hubs like ATL, DET, BOS. Also the addition UAD with Westjet and United. Sometimes you lose and sometimes you gain

[hehehe]

It does suck that we went from 5x daily SEA in 2019 to 13x weekly SEA next winter, among other cuts like IAH. I suppose getting 2x weekly YYT/YQM is nice but I preferred the more frequent SFO/IAH/SEA flights on a larger number of airlines but oh well. YYF and YBR are sub daily for the first time in a while and YXJ is down to 9x weekly with no Saturday flight. Surprised that PHX didn't get any increases considering AZA got cut.

Now to see what the 15 or so Swoop tails do over the winter now that most Swoop flying has been completely cut, and what the planes that WS got since last winter will do. I looked at a random Wednesday in November and there'll be 114 flights a day, compared to the around 160 this summer?

[hollywoodcory]

Looking over the WS schedule here is a comparison by region to last winter

Western US is mostly the same / been reduced:
PDX / AZA cut
SEA reduced
SFO/LAX/PSP/SNA/LAS/PHX/IAH unchanged
SAN increased

Eastern US has been increased:
JFK to 6x, ATL to 9x, MCO to 8x, FLL to 3x, TPA new

The additional flight to MCO starting December 15:
WS1418 YYC 16:55 - 23:58 MCO 737 5
WS1419 MCO 08:00 - 11:40 YYC 737 6
(Be interesting to see if this extra flight also gets added on other days solely targeted at Lynx).

Hawaii: OGG unchanged, HNL / KOA increased with longer operating season.

Mexico: Mostly unchanged, HUX increased

Caribbean/Central America: BZE / MBJ / PUJ / VRA all increased, LIR unchanged although extended to late May, NAS reduced

Europe: LHR unchanged, CDG 3-4x weekly year-round extension. TATAL overall is increased compared to 2022/2023. FCO runs until Nov. 9 then resumes Apr. 1

-The 787 is ONLY operating to Europe, Hawaii and Mexico. There is no domestic runs to YYZ presently scheduled.

LHR 1x daily
CUN 1x daily
PVR Up to 6x weekly
OGG Up to 5x weekly
CDG Up to 4x weekly
HNL Up to 2x weekly

[Coldrsx]

The City of Calgary Request for Proposals No. 23-1578

APPENDIX B – REQUIREMENTS A. PROJECT’SVISIONSTATEMENT

In a region that will continue to grow, it is vital to have a roadmap to build out a transit network that increases capacity for travelers and utilizes the best possible use of transportation assets. This project will assess the optimal rail-based transit connection between the Calgary International Airport and downtown Calgary that makes sense for Calgary and the region both in the short term and as part of the ultimate buildout of transit to the airport. The outcome of the study should provide clear direction for where investment should be focused initially. It is critical that the infrastructure that is recommended supports a service that will be valued by customers and respects taxpayers’ investment.

B. INTRODUCTION
The City of Calgary (The City) requires the services of a qualified engineering consulting firm to generate the following studies and deliverables including a final comprehensive report:
1. Review optimal rail/transit connections between the Calgary International Airport, downtown Calgary, the Blue Line LRT, the Green Line LRT, high speed mass transit and a potential multimodal station west of Deerfoot Trail;
2. Assess ridership opportunities and how that impacts an integrated passenger rail service between Calgary International Airport, downtown Calgary, the Bow Valley and Edmonton;
3. Review, rationalize and use the ridership studies and other inputs that are available from the privately proposed rail projects, The City’s Airport Transit Connection and neighboring communities, accounting for each other and reviewing options for transit services accessing the Calgary International Airport; and
4. Develop a recommended alignment for the service considering infrastructure and regulatory requirements, phasing for introduction of service and effective use of public funds.

[People_talking]

Concourse B is terrible, low ceilings and very aged. It quite literally needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

[JakeLRS]

Greetings Calgarians. After a 6 year hiatus of avoiding YYC, I finally decided to make a pitstop at YYC while travelling my regular YHM-YEG haul. I would generally fly with Swoop, but I really didn’t like the 6am departure time, so I decided to fly with Westjet again via YYC. It was honestly a bit refreshing getting some of that Westjet hospitality again, I was so use to the stubborn swoop airport crew and call centre staff when something arose (flight crew were pretty much similar though).

During my connection, I tried to get into the WS elevation lounge using my Amex Plat card but was denied since they were full. I was really looking forward to trying their highly acclaimed lounge... So I decided to trek to Concourse D and visit the aspire lounge. I was honestly quite impressed with the lounge; it was clean, spacious and had a good amount of options for bites. Personally, I wasn’t a fan of the glass stalls (I like privacy thank you). Definitely way better than the YEG/YYZ plaza premium lounges.

If Starbucks had a second capital, it would be YYC. I swear you guys have a Starbucks on every corner in this airport, YEG could never (sorry). I also wanted to appreciate the hanger style architecture of concourse C, it’s a nice fit. Did they remove the carousel from the concourse or was that in a different concourse? I always liked seeing those little planes fly around as a little human travelling via YYC.

The YYC link is… cool I guess, very unique. Kinda gave subway station vibes though. Concourse D is very stylish and modern with tons of food options. Although, the double pained and partially covered windows near the gates of the lounge kinda sucked though. There were also some (boarding?) desks when I was walking from C to D with no gate… what are the purpose of these desks? Can’t imagine them being used for boarding with no gates and a narrow hall.

I was gonna travel to concourse B to see how big of a disaster it is and if it’s worse than YHM (probably isn’t), but I ran outta time.

Anyways, thought I’d share my little travel experience at YYC after my hiatus snuggling with Swoop.

[casper]

Originally Posted by People_talking

Concourse B is terrible, low ceilings and very aged. It quite literally needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

It has that overhead walkway from the gates that use to go to customs/immigration from years past.

You guys need to find a way of reactivating that and connecting it to a customs/immigration hall somewhere in the airport. It can be done it just requires some creative airport architecture.

[hollywoodcory]

Originally Posted by casper

It has that overhead walkway from the gates that use to go to customs/immigration from years past.

You guys need to find a way of reactivating that and connecting it to a customs/immigration hall somewhere in the airport. It can be done it just requires some creative airport architecture.

It’s already being used for unscreened arrivals from YFI.

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

Greetings Calgarians. After a 6 year hiatus of avoiding YYC, I finally decided to make a pitstop at YYC while travelling my regular YHM-YEG haul. I would generally fly with Swoop, but I really didn’t like the 6am departure time, so I decided to fly with Westjet again via YYC. It was honestly a bit refreshing getting some of that Westjet hospitality again, I was so use to the stubborn swoop airport crew and call centre staff when something arose (flight crew were pretty much similar though).

During my connection, I tried to get into the WS elevation lounge using my Amex Plat card but was denied since they were full. I was really looking forward to trying their highly acclaimed lounge... So I decided to trek to Concourse D and visit the aspire lounge. I was honestly quite impressed with the lounge; it was clean, spacious and had a good amount of options for bites. Personally, I wasn’t a fan of the glass stalls (I like privacy thank you). Definitely way better than the YEG/YYZ plaza premium lounges.

If Starbucks had a second capital, it would be YYC. I swear you guys have a Starbucks on every corner in this airport, YEG could never (sorry). I also wanted to appreciate the hanger style architecture of concourse C, it’s a nice fit. Did they remove the carousel from the concourse or was that in a different concourse? I always liked seeing those little planes fly around as a little human travelling via YYC.

The YYC link is… cool I guess, very unique. Kinda gave subway station vibes though. Concourse D is very stylish and modern with tons of food options. Although, the double pained and partially covered windows near the gates of the lounge kinda sucked though. There were also some (boarding?) desks when I was walking from C to D with no gate… what are the purpose of these desks? Can’t imagine them being used for boarding with no gates and a narrow hall.

I was gonna travel to concourse B to see how big of a disaster it is and if it’s worse than YHM (probably isn’t), but I ran outta time.

Anyways, thought I’d share my little travel experience at YYC after my hiatus snuggling with Swoop.

The spinning planes in the A concourse were removed a few months ago to accommodate additional gate seating , I believe. The artist hoped to find a new home for it in a different venue.

Those podiums between C and D used to be connected to gates 70/71 for domestic ops when D was purely an international/trans border concourse. Then when D became a mixed domestic/international concourse and COVID hit, those podiums became a COVID testing centre. Not sure what the future plans are for that area but I do see they’ve added seating in the area so maybe it will become a gate area again???

[Reccilake]

I noticed that the connecting hall between b pier and c pier has a second floor walkway that runs along its length. Is there a chance that in future renovations they will move the link shuttle to the second floor and free up more space on the main floor?