MCO to get much needed upgrade (Orlando, Sanford: appointed, neighborhood, buy)

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Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Correct me if I"m wrong but we're talking about 2 separate airports with 2 separate administrations and budgets here. The plan for future expansion was approved by Greater Orlando Airport Authority through it's own budget. My understanding is they have no influence over Sanford International or Daytona which are run by their own airport authorities and have their own operating budgets. It's kind of like telling Disney they should put their money into Universal's property. Am I misunderstanding something?

You aren't misunderstanding. They have totally different administration and budgets. For that matter, Sanford is managed by a private company while MCO is managed by the GOAA, who also manages Executive.

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Originally Posted by tinytrump

And the crapolla our flyers keep bringing in into the country or other locations.- will slow TSA even more. No sense folks who travel! I hope the can do something with the roads more lanes or something, crazies on the JEFF FUQUA--

And you travel so much that you would know this how? When was the last time you flew anywhere, particularly anywhere that required a passport to travel?

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Originally Posted by kyle19125

The point being the money spent is wasted unless the FAA opens up significantly more routes which isn't likely given the maxxed out capabilities currently at MCO. It's not going to get any busier at MCO with flights operating at capacity. Regional airports were mentioned as they are the last frontier so to speak of airline expansion in/around major metro areas.

MCO isn't slotted. They are far from operating at capacity, particularly if they can bring in more heavies in the quiet early am or midday hours and depart them after 8:00 pm.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by annerk

MCO isn't slotted. They are far from operating at capacity, particularly if they can bring in more heavies in the quiet early am or midday hours and depart them after 8:00 pm.

If those are "quiet times" why would expansion be necessary then?

[Crane's Rooster]

Originally Posted by WithDisp

What is the result of this money 'well spent'?
The capacity of MCO has to do with the Sky, not the ground.
I can't see a compelling case to fix what isn't broken other than to be ready to receive public rail if the time ever comes.

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Exactly, the passenger numbers won't increase until the facility is expanded, so it's as usual a matter of wanting to spend wasted money on something to impress everyone with how slick the city sees itself, and not functionality.

Am I the only one who thinks the airport is a fiasco at times due to the space limitations??? Security checkpoints are a nightmare, concourse are full to the point of no seats at times. As the point of entry for nearly 40 million travelers this is how we want to present ourselves???? Should we just keep it the way it is until there no room to move??? My understanding is that of the $1.1 Billion, hundreds of millions will be spent upgrading the current terminal as well. Tampa is upgrading their airport as well, are they wasting their money by not upgrading St. Pete/Clearwater instead or not upgrading a facility that still stuck in the 70's??? I guess we should just never spend any money at all.

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Originally Posted by kyle19125

If those are "quiet times" why would expansion be necessary then?

Because the existing terminals can't handle the current load during peak times.

Have you ever flown internationally? You need to be there 3-4 hours before the flight time. There are multiple layers of check ins over and above what you go through on domestic flights. The current terminal can't handle that many people that are there for that long. The problem isn't with take off and landing slots. The problem is with the capacity of the existing terminals to handle the number of bodies that enter them.

[tinytrump]

Originally Posted by annerk

And you travel so much that you would know this how? When was the last time you flew anywhere, particularly anywhere that required a passport to travel?

I travel a few times a year but have reason to drive by the airport and that is nona

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Am I the only one who thinks the airport is a fiasco at times due to the space limitations??? Security checkpoints are a nightmare, concourse are full to the point of no seats at times. As the point of entry for nearly 40 million travelers this is how we want to present ourselves???? Should we just keep it the way it is until there no room to move??? My understanding is that of the $1.1 Billion, hundreds of millions will be spent upgrading the current terminal as well. Tampa is upgrading their airport as well, are they wasting their money by not upgrading St. Pete/Clearwater instead or not upgrading a facility that still stuck in the 70's??? I guess we should just never spend any money at all.

So true. I came in around 4:00pm on a Thursday recently, and was SHOCKED at the wall-to-wall people crammed into the Delta concourse. We literally had to part through them leaving the jetway.

[WithDisp]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Am I the only one who thinks the airport is a fiasco at times due to the space limitations??? Security checkpoints are a nightmare, concourse are full to the point of no seats at times. As the point of entry for nearly 40 million travelers this is how we want to present ourselves???? Should we just keep it the way it is until there no room to move??? My understanding is that of the $1.1 Billion, hundreds of millions will be spent upgrading the current terminal as well. Tampa is upgrading their airport as well, are they wasting their money by not upgrading St. Pete/Clearwater instead or not upgrading a facility that still stuck in the 70's??? I guess we should just never spend any money at all.

I fly a lot- and unfortunately, as far as departing MCO is my least favorite airport in the entirety of the US.
It's always the slowest through security, I have to deal with the tram, and most of my gates just happen to be at the farthest end imaginable that even the WiFi barely can work.
It is however very peaceful to fly into.

I don't really care how we present ourselves or that seating is limited.
I tend to get to the airport 50 minutes before my flight- want to be through and to the gate as quickly as possible.
ALL the good stuff is pre-security. There's so much shopping and places to eat- but how does that help me? Often I get a gate and take off at 9PM and there's absolutely no food or coffee in the region I'm at.

The airport should instead just pay more money to private security/screeners to expeditiously get people through to their destination- possibly before all the good stuff that encourages spending and thus rent the airport can charge.

... I don't think we should spend money at all if there's no real reason to. Let the aviation agency and the county write it up as a business plan and see if there's any merit to actually doing it. I'm too jaded of seeing projects like this awarded to companies who clearly had a hand in the political pandering that moved a project like this through.

If a 1 Billion dollar upgrade to MCO means 10% faster service, 10% more flights, and reasonable accommodations for public transit- I'd be all for it.
If it's only making the terminal prettier and more modern, and more shopping mall like isn't really where our money should be going. HNL looks straight out of 1985... and people still love to go there. We're not losing tourists over our 1990s airport.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by WithDisp

If a 1 Billion dollar upgrade to MCO means 10% faster service, 10% more flights, and reasonable accommodations for public transit- I'd be all for it. If it's only making the terminal prettier and more modern, and more shopping mall like isn't really where our money should be going. HNL looks straight out of 1985... and people still love to go there. We're not losing tourists over our 1990s airport.

Which is thinking the process through. If the expansion brings in more flights and more passengers to feed the "Jabba the Hut-like" Central Florida tourism industry and within no time at all makes it the same in terms of terminal crowds or even worse with more congestion of airport roadways and highways in/out, how is that an "improvement"?