SAT Terminals (Bowie, Vega, Benjamin: neighborhood, high school, contractors)

[alexmm]

Originally Posted by scuba steve

Can't wait until the bulldozers show up at the door to terminal 2. Although it does give Slovakia's main airport a real run for its money and surpassed the one in Kazakhstan just last year in terms of smell.

Terminal 2 is fine when you are inside of it but looking at it form satellite pictures it looks pretty ugly. Here is what the final project should look like in 2016 (or whenever the newest delay pushed it back to). I think the new terminals will look much better than the current terminal 2 and I can't wait.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/aviation/i...00823140PM.pdf

[smitty12]

Originally Posted by smitty12

Continental quite regularly uses the 757-300 between SAT and IAH (It actually seats more than the smaller widebodies, it is a very long plane). I also saw a Delta 757 sitting at a gate a few weeks ago. I think back in the day Continental also used DC-10s out of San Antonio.

Though with the strait concourses, pretty much any size plane could be handled, it just might take two gates. The real question is will any Carriers want operate big planes out of SAT? That I doubt. People like the convenience of multiple departure times throughout the day to the few destinations that could possibly support a bigger plane.

I got nostalgic and decided to go find a few pictures....

An American DC-10, circa 1993 I think American was in Terminal 2 at that time.

Photos: McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

One of those Continental 757-300 look at how long it is (circa 2007)....

Photos: Boeing 757-33N Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

A Northwest 747 though doubtful here due to scheduled service, Probably getting work done at San Antonio Aerospace, plenty of strange liveried 747 in San Antonio if you search for them.

Photos: Boeing 747-451 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

Texas International Airlines DC-9 (circa 1974). Note the chainlink fence in the forground, the gate in it is "Gate2" and notes Passengers Only. Not a big plane, but I thought the gate situation from the early 70s interesting.

Photos: Douglas DC-9-14 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

Braniff 707 from the early 60s

Photos: Boeing 707-227 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

Sun Country DC-10, (1999). I think these operated out of United Gates at Terminal 1.

Photos: McDonnell Douglas DC-10-15 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by scuba steve

Is the new terminal going to handle anything larger than what's there now? I think the biggest plane I've seen at either terminal is a 737.

Originally Posted by smitty12

Continental quite regularly uses the 757-300 between SAT and IAH (It actually seats more than the smaller widebodies, it is a very long plane). I also saw a Delta 757 sitting at a gate a few weeks ago. I think back in the day Continental also used DC-10s out of San Antonio.

Though with the strait concourses, pretty much any size plane could be handled, it just might take two gates. The real question is will any Carriers want operate big planes out of SAT? That I doubt. People like the convenience of multiple departure times throughout the day to the few destinations that could possibly support a bigger plane.

Currently, Delta is the only airline that uses 757s on regular routes in and out of SAT. Continental also uses 757s sometimes. The other airlines don't use anything larger than a B737 or A320 on regular routes to and from SAT.

Terminal B will allow up to 757 size aircraft to be parked at some of the gates when there are aircraft are parked at adjacent gates. One of the Terminal B gates might be able to fit something a little larger than a 757, maybe a 767. With the linear layout of the gates at Terminal B, as well as Terminal 1, wingtip clearance becomes an issue, especially with the winglets that are being added to a lot of aircraft models. It's easier to deal with at Terminal 2, since it has a radial gate layout. Years ago, 707s, DC-8s, and DC-10s were commonly parked at those Terminal 2 gates.

[smuboy86]

I flew a Northwest 757 into SAT from the Twin Cities, it was literally empty. Maybe a total of 15 passengers with at least 4 flight attendants. I'm hoping they just needed it for the next morning turnaround. It was a late night flight I was on.

[scuba steve]

Originally Posted by smitty12

Continental quite regularly uses the 757-300 between SAT and IAH (It actually seats more than the smaller widebodies, it is a very long plane). I also saw a Delta 757 sitting at a gate a few weeks ago. I think back in the day Continental also used DC-10s out of San Antonio.

Though with the strait concourses, pretty much any size plane could be handled, it just might take two gates. The real question is will any Carriers want operate big planes out of SAT? That I doubt. People like the convenience of multiple departure times throughout the day to the few destinations that could possibly support a bigger plane.

Originally Posted by alexmm

Terminal 2 is fine when you are inside of it but looking at it form satellite pictures it looks pretty ugly. Here is what the final project should look like in 2016 (or whenever the newest delay pushed it back to). I think the new terminals will look much better than the current terminal 2 and I can't wait.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/aviation/i...00823140PM.pdf

When I wrote that I was thinking in the back of my mind that maybe once this year I've had a CO flight to San Antonio on a 57 but couldn't remember... anyway you never know when one of the airlines might want to open up a smaller hub of some kind. Like on a trip to Costa Rica I'm going on soon, I'm not choosing a carrier that'll route me through Denver or Atlanta.

CO is who I fly with more often than anyone else. Been inside terminal 2 way more than I'd care to be. Since around the start of this year it's started smelling pretty foul in there. Can't wait until there's something better there instead.

[deek102]

Originally Posted by scuba steve

CO is who I fly with more often than anyone else. Been inside terminal 2 way more than I'd care to be. Since around the start of this year it's started smelling pretty foul in there. Can't wait until there's something better there instead.

When I traveled, for business, CO is pretty much all I used too. Even on leisure trips I look to book them first. I know their routes pretty well (east coast, at least, their west coast routes pretty much stink), I know IAH pretty well and I hate flying through DFW! My parents recently flew AA and confirmed why I love CO and IAH so much -- AA completely screwed up their flights and they were stuck @ DFW overnight

I can't say I've been in terminal 2 this year... I've dropped friends/family out front in that lovely little mess of an area but not gone in. I liked terminal 2 b/c it didn't have SWA! Every time I went in Terminal 1 I swear that line was from security to the other end of the building! I don't know if they have THAT many more flights in terminal 1 or if they just scheduled their departure times on top of each other and created the chaos. Either way.. terminal 2 for me!

CO++ for sure. Except now my wife said they've started charging for the first checked bag too?? Come'on CO, don't be like that!

[scuba steve]

She's right - it's $15. I'm not sure if elite status changes that or not... I'm right at the number of miles where you start picking it up every time.

Security is short at terminal 2, but man that front area smells sometimes...

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by scuba steve

She's right - it's $15. I'm not sure if elite status changes that or not... I'm right at the number of miles where you start picking it up every time.

Security is short at terminal 2, but man that front area smells sometimes...

There is never a charge to check bags for Elite members. I would never check bags though. I think I'm immune to the smell.

[icebrg]

You do not need to have Elite status to avoid the baggage fee Continental charges. All you need is a Continental Airlines One Pass MasterCard from Chase. You do not need to purchase your airfare with the card to get the perk, either.

[scuba steve]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

There is never a charge to check bags for Elite members. I would never check bags though. I think I'm immune to the smell.

Wish I didn't have to check bags, but it's hard to go for 3 weeks at a time with what you can stuff into a carry on. Because my travel duration is usually long I have a few hundred thousand Hilton points but not so much with the airlines.

I need to get one of those Chase cards... I get an application in the mail every couple of weeks and it seems like the number of miles they'll give out goes up every time. It was 45,000 on the most recent one! I'd say I'm holding out for 50K, but the truth is I'm too lazy to fill the thing out. Since I'm traveling more for fun these days I'd better send one in though to get around baggage fees whenever they would otherwise apply.