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Not only is it skyscrapers, architecture, fine dining, etc. that are barometers when discussing civic pride but so are airports. Most topics when comparing San Francisco to Charlotte the former will win in most categories. However on the topic of airports I believe it to be a fair comparison. Both airports are around 40 million passenger movements per year.
Aircraft movements- CLT has a much higher number of aircraft movements than SFO. With a similar number of passengers it's obvious CLT has a higher percentage of small to medium regional aircraft while SFO is more dominant in mainline larger jets.
Domestic service- CLT has a much better domestic network linking direct flights to not only large/medium markets, but smaller markets as well while SFO's domestic offerings is limited to upper medium/large markets (with the exception of intra-state small markets).
International service- CLT has an adequate European and Latin American operation but your choices are limited to US Airways/AA and one foreign carrier. SFO has a far better international network linking to most regions around the globe and giving the traveler many airline options.
Even though both airports have the same amount of total passenger movements it's clear both airports have a different means of operations.
So which airport would you prefer serving your home area? Would you choose an airport like CLT that gets you to more destinations direct in the US with one dominant carrier and a limited international network, or an airport like SFO that focuses on serving tier 1 and 2 US destinations with a larger variety of international destinations?
Please submit you choice in the poll and please give some reasons why you would prefer one over the other.
Last edited by Fastphilly; 07-05-2013 at 12:38 PM..
Though this is an airport thread, it's obvious that most folks on this forum will pick the more known/interesting city. I don't know much about San Fran's airport, but I do know that there's currently tons of growth around Charlotte's. I also know that Clt is one of the cheapest hubs to operate out of in the country. However, Clt is also in an extremely wooded/rural area of west Charlotte; making mass transit into the area a pipe-dream at best. It will be YEARS (if ever) before we see decent rail transit to Charlotte's airport. I could be wrong, but rail transit to Charlotte's west side will be the last place in Charlotte to get rapid rail.
I dont know that this is a good comparrison. Both airports serve different purposes.
CLT is a domestically oriented airport with some international service to Europe, the Caribbean, and Brazil.
SFO is an internationally oriented airport that is the nexus of connections to Asia along with LAX and JFK. SFO also has a huge domestic network albeit smaller than CLT.
CLT also caters mostly to connections to/from the Southeast where SFO get connections from all over the US to/from Asia and the West Coast.
Does Charlotte let you check inside late for a next morning flight? I was stuck at SFO one time thinking I could check in early and sleep, spent 5 hours in the waiting zone before I could check in and go past security before a redeye flight. It was really annoying, in other airports I've been able to just wander around if I want to get there earlier if I am traveling or something and go ahead and check my bags in and stuff.
When I lived in the Bay Area I actually liked flying in and out of Oakland better, was just always a better and smoother experience.
SFO is new and nice but kind of a PITA.
I've only had layovers in CLT, didn't think much of it though.
Both airports have pretty solid facilities. I would go with SFO based on the diversity of airlines you see there. While both airports are sizable hubs for US (CLT) and UA (SFO), SFO sees a lot more variety of airlines than CLT does. You see zero Asian carriers at CLT and only 1 European carrier, where SFO has several Asian and European carriers.
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