AUSTIN | ABIA Updates - Page 34

Jdawgboy · #**661** Posted **Jun 29, 2012, 5:04 PM**

Lets not forget that the Airport already had plans in the works to add more international gates, hopefully they can go ahead and speed up those plans but even so it will take 3 to 5 years. Something has to be done before then.

hookem · #**662** Posted **Jun 29, 2012, 5:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricron

Not only was the proposed terminal expansion temporary, it was also non-bid. ABIA should have fast tracked the permanent terminal expansion instead a year ago. I dislike spending lots of cash for temporary buildings when the same money can be used for permanent buildings. There's a reason most government projects require bids - avoiding graft that's ever present in non-bid projects. Note: ABIA did not solicit this from Siemens, Siemens took the innovative and proposed it all by themselves. I doubt there was any negotiations over price. Graft is graft.

I doubt "fast tracking" anything a year ago was possible for ABIA... not with the city council involved. So, we were stuck with either a temporary terminal or nothing. No-bid contracts are certainly not the preferred method of government spending, but with no time to go through the bid process there wasn't an alternative. It's just a question of whether you trust the airport/airport commission's judgement or not. The city council decided not to, for purely political reasons. Had nothing to do with the money, they could care less about that. It had everything to do with being associated with F1.

Austin1971 · #**663** Posted **Jun 29, 2012, 5:29 PM**

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KevinFromTexas · #**664** Posted **Jun 30, 2012, 8:29 PM**

Bill Spelman's comment on rejecting the temporary terminal.

http://impactnews.com/articles/counc...ional-terminal

Quote:

"This is probably not the best use of that $5 million," Councilman Bill Spelman said. "It would take 606 charters to pay for this building, and I suspect we won't get those in the next two or three years."

hookem · #**665** Posted **Jun 30, 2012, 8:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Bill Spelman's comment on rejecting the temporary terminal.

http://impactnews.com/articles/counc...ional-terminal

Unfortunately Spelman's comments were poorly researched. He was using a $$$ amount per charter that the ABIA CEO gave out to the council off the cuff during the meeting... which she herself said was probably wrong. But they kept pressing her to say something... so she said it might have been $9K per plane. Then spelman divided $5.5 million by $9K on the fly and made the statement. ABIA should have had the real number ready.

In addition to the landing/gate fees, how much would each planeload of 300+ Europeans have spent in the terminal after deplaning for the first time since crossing the Atlantic? How many might think, wow, it's sure easy to get to Austin, maybe I'll come back for SXSW? What is that worth?

What about the revenue from international diversions? How much would that have earned the airport?

And what value do we give to the citizens of Austin, having the capability (at least) for transatlantic flights to originate/end in ABIA, and the potential service that might bring to us?

Austin1971 · #**666** Posted **Jul 1, 2012, 5:00 PM**

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LoneStarMike · #**667** Posted **Jul 3, 2012, 4:20 AM**

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) news
July 2, 2012

May 2012 Passenger & Air Cargo traffic at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Quote:

Passenger Activity: Total passenger traffic for May 2012 was 829,642, up 1.5% compared to May 2011. May 2012 enplanements totaled 419,832, up 1.5%

Passenger Activity: Total passenger traffic for January – May YTD was 3,746,408 up 4% compared to January – May 2011. January – May 2012 enplanements totaled 1,876,174, up 4%

Note: The percentage increases in the press releases are always rounded. The monthly aviation activity report is more accurate.

May Aviation Activity Report

electricron · #**668** Posted **Jul 5, 2012, 4:26 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hookem

Unfortunately Spelman's comments were poorly researched. He was using a $$$ amount per charter that the ABIA CEO gave out to the council off the cuff during the meeting... which she herself said was probably wrong. But they kept pressing her to say something... so she said it might have been $9K per plane. Then spelman divided $5.5 million by $9K on the fly and made the statement. ABIA should have had the real number ready.

And what value do we give to the citizens of Austin, having the capability (at least) for transatlantic flights to originate/end in ABIA, and the potential service that might bring to us?

ABIA already has the ability to handle transatlantic international flights, just not as many as Formula 1 requested.
Don't blame the Councilman asking the questions, the answers to his questions should have been known by the ABIA CEO, if the ABIA CEO really wanted the allocation of city funds. I would expect that of any city agency, and especially from one being managed by a third party.
Funds for further, permanent ABIA expansion is already planned, although not allocated yet. It's ABIA that wanted to fast track these funds early for an early, unsolicited bid. ABIA should have had all the i's dotted and t's crossed before forwarding the bid to the council.

kingkirbythe.... · #**669** Posted **Jul 5, 2012, 6:26 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricron

ABIA already has the ability to handle transatlantic international flights, just not as many as Formula 1 requested.
Don't blame the Councilman asking the questions, the answers to his questions should have been known by the ABIA CEO, if the ABIA CEO really wanted the allocation of city funds. I would expect that of any city agency, and especially from one being managed by a third party.
Funds for further, permanent ABIA expansion is already planned, although not allocated yet. It's ABIA that wanted to fast track these funds early for an early, unsolicited bid. ABIA should have had all the i's dotted and t's crossed before forwarding the bid to the council.

I finally agree with electricron on one thing. :-)

Austin1971 · #**670** Posted **Jul 5, 2012, 11:17 PM**

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GoldenBoot · #**671** Posted **Jul 5, 2012, 11:39 PM**

Ladies and gentlemen, let us not forget who is leading Austin's airport into the future...James Smith, fireman! I mean absolutely no disrespect to any firepersons out there; but, they do not know how to build, maintain, and expand an airport providing annual service to over 9 million people. Jim did not have any aviation experience until the COA gave it to him.

If Austin wants to become a "world city," in addition to other challenges, it will have to rethink who they have leading its air gateway!!! I can say this from experience...I was a consultant on a few teams which included Jim and believe he is not capable of providing the proper leadership and vision for an airport with the growth potential equivalent to that of Austin's.

Most other mid-major and major airports around the globe are run by men and women who have had aviation management experience measuring in the decades (in multiple locations and situations).

The following is a short CV of James Smith - provided by the Circuit of the Americas:

"Jim Smith began his career with New York City Fire Department, followed by a move to Dayton, Ohio as Assistant Fire Chief. Later he became Director of Housing & Development in Dayton. In 1984, he joined the City of Austin and has served Austin as Director of Building Inspection, Director of Public Works and Transportation, Director of Planning and Development, Assistant City Manager, and now Director of Aviation. He earned a B.S. degree from the City University of New York and his M.P.A. from University of Dayton."

Jdawgboy · #**672** Posted **Jul 6, 2012, 12:25 AM**

Why in the world did the city hire him? His job history doesn't exactly scream aviation and airport management.

the Genral · #**673** Posted **Jul 9, 2012, 1:32 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Why in the world did the city hire him? His job history doesn't exactly scream aviation and airport management.

perhaps he's the only one who applied for the job....

Austin1971 · #**674** Posted **Jul 9, 2012, 5:13 PM**

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hookem · #**675** Posted **Jul 9, 2012, 8:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Saturday was a great afternoon at the port. Multiple diversions. Had 3 B777 on the ground at the same time. 2 AA's from London and Madrid and 1 Emirates from Dubai. The maintenance ramp was packed, 2 AA 777's, 1 AA B757, 1 AA B737 and 5 AA MD80's on the ramp with others at the terminal. Air Op's ran out of space on the ramp and had to park the Emirates 77W on taxiway Charlie just south of taxiway Tango. Also confirmed that 2 charters have committed to landing at the port for F1, 1 UA B777 and 1 UA 764. Both will be off-loaded via gate 2 and will process through the port's current custom's facility. The plan is to have staggered arrivals to facilitate processing as fast as possible.

Interesting news! Were all the diversions for the same airport & weather related? I was at the airport that day. I wish I had known so I could look for some of those planes...

Anyway, some much needed practice for ABIA...

austlar1 · #**676** Posted **Jul 9, 2012, 11:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Saturday was a great afternoon at the port. Multiple diversions. Had 3 B777 on the ground at the same time. 2 AA's from London and Madrid and 1 Emirates from Dubai. The maintenance ramp was packed, 2 AA 777's, 1 AA B757, 1 AA B737 and 5 AA MD80's on the ramp with others at the terminal. Air Op's ran out of space on the ramp and had to park the Emirates 77W on taxiway Charlie just south of taxiway Tango. Also confirmed that 2 charters have committed to landing at the port for F1, 1 UA B777 and 1 UA 764. Both will be off-loaded via gate 2 and will process through the port's current custom's facility. The plan is to have staggered arrivals to facilitate processing as fast as possible.

What a nightmare for the passengers. Imagine 10 or 11 hours across the ocean only to land and have to sit for hours. I am guessing they did not disembark. How long were they on the ground? I once had to sit for almost 7 hours in a plane at DFW after there was a failure of the baggage routing system that made it impossible to load and unload planes. I was so pissed at AA that I did not fly that airline again for almost a decade.

Austin1971 · #**677** Posted **Jul 10, 2012, 5:52 AM**

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hookem · #**678** Posted **Jul 10, 2012, 6:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin1971

All the diversions on Saturday were from DFW with the exception of the Emirates flight which was from IAH. They were on the ground about 3 hours.

Another crazy afternoon at the port today. Had approximately 15 United diversions starting around 230p from IAH. A few heavies......1 B777 from Tokyo and 2 B767's, 1 from Amsterdam and the other from Paris.....They all departed by 530p....

Just curious, why do they come to Austin? Seems like they'd need to go around the weather just to get here -- were the other diversion options full? Do many go to SAT? Is it just logistics for certain airlines with a presence here?

Sorry for all the questions, I don't know much about the subject but I'm very interested...

LoneStarMike · #**679** Posted **Jul 10, 2012, 2:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Had approximately 15 United diversions starting around 230p from IAH. A few heavies......1 B777 from Tokyo and 2 B767's, 1 from Amsterdam and the other from Paris.....They all departed by 530p....

Probably a dumb question, but when these planes divert to Austin due to weather or whatever, do they have to pay AUS a landing fee?

Austin1971 · #**680** Posted **Jul 10, 2012, 4:54 PM**

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