Quote:
Originally Posted by msmariner
I can't believe the negativity on this site. We have a brand new terminal that is having some minor growing pains. People make it out like it's the worse airport in the world.
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Enjoy the extra room
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Tobuz has given his response on the positives and negatives of the new terminal. Rather than reiterate the response I will say that his post fairly accurately reflects my thoughts as well.
Regarding the reasons for the negativity, all I can offer is the following:
- Perhaps our collective expectations were perhaps a bit too high, but also we were given a dream like expectations by CAA and others,
- There was no detailed specs or progress reports provided as to what was going to be contained inside the new terminal. The most we got was a indication that call to gate would be activated for the new terminal. At the time based on the collective experience from elsewhere, this did not appear to be a major issue.
- The first phase of the expansion went above everyone's expectations. The new runway kicked off a major realignment of the Alberta airspace. Followed closely by nearly eliminating most ground holds and circling required at peak times when the YYC airspace was overcapacity.
- The biggest reason is that since 3rd week of November I have heard from most major airlines at the new terminal and nobody is impressed with the building. About one month ago I posted about hearing from one airline HQ that the new terminal was considered a brand damaging experience. After reading news articles from Greg Saretsky and Robert Palmer, you would expect that I was talking about WestJet. However more shocking was that it was team red, Air Canada, that I was talking about. To have extremely negative conversations coming from both major airline users is quite frankly unprecedented.
Back in early September i posted about how the WS YEG-LGW flights were in jeopardy and that YWG-LGW flights were a total loss for returning next year. Additionally, I posted that WS was poised to make YYC their super hub and push YEG through YYC to connect to USA and sun destinations.
Today given the issues WS is having with regard to domestic to international/transborder connections and new terminal operations, I believe that YEG is about to be given a reprieve. YEG-LGW and the transborder operations will remain as is for the 2017 summer season. Further, an additional YVR-LGW flight (replacement for YWG-LGW) will make YVR the second Canadian city to have daily WS flights to LGW. This means that YYC WS pax on Saturdays will have their choice of YVR or YEG to connect.
For YYC to be a great airport, we have to focus on the negative aspects so they can be fixed or mitigated as much as possible.
One thing I learned early as a child in the 80s and 90s is best served by a quote from Robert Crandall, former CEO of American Airlines;
"The airline business is the closest thing there is to legalized warfare".
Airlines have the capability to adjust assets and people around the world with frightening speed. What industries can redistribute $250 million dollar plant with personnel on less than one weeks notice? The answer is military and airline. If we don't act fast, the window of opportunity to be a great hub airport will close.
From pulling up to the terminal entrance, checkin, preboard screening, customs, retail, gate to arrival CBSA, Connections, and bag pick up; here is what can be done to mitigate the negatives.
The front door;
- Door 15 should be the exclusive use of AC, DL and BA. It is debatable whether DL and KLM should trade spots, but for now lets assume airlines maintain their respective checkin locations.
- Door 16 should be the exclusive use of WS pax. However, door 16 is is in the wrong spot. It should be dead center of the checkin hall, but for aesthetic reasons was moved slightly to the east. This reduces the usefulness for WS pax. Additionally, it also makes it a logical entrance for all other airlines and reduces the effectiveness of door 17. However as putting in a new entrance is not practical, The overhead signs should be adjusted so that the center locations display WS exclusively.
- Door 17 should be the used for UA, AS, HU, TS and other charter airlines. But as stated above the closeness to door 16 makes it easy for pax to go through the wrong doors. The major pax familiarization issue is that some pax self checkin, print bag tag, but are unable to find their checkin counters for AS, UA, etc. They instead go to the empty counters at AA and get frustrated at being unable to deliver checked bags to their airline.
Preboard Screening:
- Pax were told by the airport to expect a streamlined and faster screening system. Instead for 1/3 of pax with Nexus cards they got a more lenthy process and most pax have longer lines as CATSA has reduced the number of open lanes too much.
- Single line operations at non peak times frustrates priority screening status holders and Nexus card holders. Solution, Airport authority takes over screening line maintenance and boarding pass scanning from CATSA and assigns those duties to airport ambassadors. Solution to Nexus lane issues is to create a common Nexus and Crew lane for checkpoints D and E. Airport to staff the Nexus preboard screening entrance with a Commissionaire to ensure that no one goes around transborder connections centre preboard screening process. For the record, crew and Nexus card holders do not have to go through enhanced american screening proceedures.
- Insufficient open lanes for both D and E. Solution Airport publicly calls out CATSA for insufficient number of open lanes
Customs:
- The introduction of technology has confused pax and USCBP officers a like. Similar situation occured at YYZ T1, takes about 6 months to get the confusion sorted out.
Retail and airside:
- Airport should work with duty free operator to allow for an unobstructed walkway through the store. Minimum aisle widths to be maintained at all times.
- Consider bringing a few of those YYC Link carts to get pax to the far end of E concourse. Build two stations but let carts and walkers freely roam the corridor.
Return to Calgary, Canada.
- Again a few YYC Link carts with defined stops would help with the long walks.
- Adjust signs so that pax at the end of the interstitial corridor are split between Calgary arriving and Nexus/Connections pax.
- Airport needs to lean on CBSA management to get officers adjusted to new realities. The computer system selects pax for additional screening rather than solely based on officer assessment. This should reduce lines forming after the pax use the automated passport control machines.
- Airport should employ customer care ambassadors to remind pax to have their declaration slips out and ready for hand over to CBSA officers at the exit to the bag hall. The exit line forms because some pax have put away their declaration forms. The customer care ambassador process is used at YYZ T1.
Connections:
- To help WS out with their swing gate issue. The airline should employ a bus operation. The airport would need to construct a bus bay near CBSA primary inspection line. The airline would have aircraft gate at the domestic side of the operation with pax disembarking through stairs to waiting buses. The buses would then transport pax in bond to the CBSA primary inspection hall. On the reverse, WS buses would transport domestic pax directly from A to D/E link station for a quick escalator/elevator ride up to international D concourse.
Prev
of course you'd jump to the conclusion that ex-YYC planes are flying empty. At least you're consistent. 
Longer term it will get worse, as smaller aircraft are generally being replaced with larger aircraft at both WestJet and Air Canada
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