PHX Terminal 3 Updates (Phoenix: rental car, rental, house)

[Pink Jazz]

From another site that I visit, here are a few updates that I know about the Terminal 3 construction:

• The South Concourse should be complete by the end of the year.
• Delta will be moving into the South Concourse and will be opening a new club.
• There are rumors that Air Canada might be moving into Terminal 3 to be with United. Since Air Canada's flights to PHX are precleared, they do not need to be in Terminal 4. This means that one airline (perhaps Sun Country) could end up in Terminal 4.

[Roadwarriors79]

Did anyone at Sky Harbor ever consider having split levels for arrivals and departures, the way Terminal 4 is setup? Or would that have been too difficult for the Terminal 3 renovation?

[Ztonyg]

Originally Posted by Roadwarriors79

Did anyone at Sky Harbor ever consider having split levels for arrivals and departures, the way Terminal 4 is setup? Or would that have been too difficult for the Terminal 3 renovation?

The original plan was to replace Terminals 2 and 3 with a new western terminal similar to Terminal 4.

However, due to the recession and airline mergers, the thought was the more prudent option was to renovate Terminal 3 instead. The parking garage on Terminal 3 and the roadway setup prevents having split levels. Demolishing and rebuilding that parking garage as well as the roadways (while Terminal 2 is still in operation) isn't practical. Once Terminal 2 is decommissioned they do plan on moving the roadways but it'll be too late to do a split level concept.

In retrospect, they probably should've gone with the new western terminal as the overall capacity at the airport won't be increased once the Terminal 3 renovations are complete.

[Pink Jazz]

I think what Sun Country's current plans are is to use a shared gate at Terminal 3 initially until the new pier at the southwest side of Terminal 4 opens. From what I read, Southwest (no pun intended) plans to use the new pier in Terminal 4 and vacate the pier at the southeast side of Terminal 4, which should allow Sun Country to move into Terminal 4 and add a few additional gates.

[Ztonyg]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

I think what Sun Country's current plans are is to use a shared gate at Terminal 3 initially until the new pier at the southwest side of Terminal 4 opens. From what I read, Southwest (no pun intended) plans to use the new pier in Terminal 4 and vacate the pier at the southeast side of Terminal 4, which should allow Sun Country to move into Terminal 4 and add a few additional gates.

It's not clear that Southwest is going to vacate the whole pier. In fact, I've heard that they may keep 4-5 gates on that pier.

[Pink Jazz]

According to some information, once the renovation is complete, Terminal 3 South will house Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit, and Boutique, while Terminal 3 North will house United, Alaska, Air Canada, and Hawaiian. Sun Country will temporarily be in Terminal 3 South (sharing a gate I think) until the new pier at Terminal 4 opens.

[SK115]

Once the south concourse of Terminal 3 is finished and opened, they are going to remodel Terminal 3 North. I believe the plan is to remove the roof on that concourse and add another level mid-concourse with more shopping and dining, as well as a large skylight.

I wish they would do something to renovate the A, B, and C concourses of T4. They just removed the old carpeting and added new terrazzo and upgraded seating, which did update them, but not enough. Especially in the concourses that have low ceilings (I believe the outer A and B concourse have high ceilings). The current D concourse is beautiful, as I'm sure the upcoming D will be. But they need to update the older ones, structurally.

[Ztonyg]

Originally Posted by SK115

Once the south concourse of Terminal 3 is finished and opened, they are going to remodel Terminal 3 North. I believe the plan is to remove the roof on that concourse and add another level mid-concourse with more shopping and dining, as well as a large skylight.

I wish they would do something to renovate the A, B, and C concourses of T4. They just removed the old carpeting and added new terrazzo and upgraded seating, which did update them, but not enough. Especially in the concourses that have low ceilings (I believe the outer A and B concourse have high ceilings). The current D concourse is beautiful, as I'm sure the upcoming D will be. But they need to update the older ones, structurally.

Terminal 4 may be a functional airport terminal, but it definitely lagging many other airports when it comes to comfort and aesthetics.

The central concourse area where ticketing, baggage claim, and the security checkpoints are is very utilitarian. There's very little to almost no natural light (due to a 6 story parking garage built on top of it). The ceilings aren't really all that high and there really isn't anything distinctive about it.

The A, B, and C concourses are narrow, crowded, and weren't designed for the size of aircraft that utilize them now.

If I were the city, I wouldn't necessarily spend a ton of money on upgrading the existing Terminal 4 as everything except for concourse D is outdated and functionally obsolete (as far as airports are concerned). Instead I'd draw up a plan to completely redevelop Terminal 4 and the A, B, and C concourses similar to what was done with Terminal 3.

What the airport really should have done, instead of everything else, was build a new central terminal for all airlines at either 24th St. / Washington or 44th St. / Washington. Then an underground (beyond security) train system would connect to newly built concourses in the areas of the existing terminals / concourses are today. Sky Harbor Blvd would no longer exist through the center of the airport and the Rental Car Center / Economy Parking / Daily Parking would all be located on the private land south of Washington Street and north of the existing airport property.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by Ztonyg

Terminal 4 may be a functional airport terminal, but it definitely lagging many other airports when it comes to comfort and aesthetics.

The central concourse area where ticketing, baggage claim, and the security checkpoints are is very utilitarian. There's very little to almost no natural light (due to a 6 story parking garage built on top of it). The ceilings aren't really all that high and there really isn't anything distinctive about it.

The A, B, and C concourses are narrow, crowded, and weren't designed for the size of aircraft that utilize them now.

If I were the city, I wouldn't necessarily spend a ton of money on upgrading the existing Terminal 4 as everything except for concourse D is outdated and functionally obsolete (as far as airports are concerned). Instead I'd draw up a plan to completely redevelop Terminal 4 and the A, B, and C concourses similar to what was done with Terminal 3.

What the airport really should have done, instead of everything else, was build a new central terminal for all airlines at either 24th St. / Washington or 44th St. / Washington. Then an underground (beyond security) train system would connect to newly built concourses in the areas of the existing terminals / concourses are today. Sky Harbor Blvd would no longer exist through the center of the airport and the Rental Car Center / Economy Parking / Daily Parking would all be located on the private land south of Washington Street and north of the existing airport property.

I see your idea with the ATL-style layout, but Phoenix has a significantly higher percentage of origin and destination passengers compared to Atlanta, and an ATL-style layout is not ideal if you want to cater to the origin and destination passengers. Such layouts are ideal when traffic is predominantly connecting traffic.

[SK115]

Originally Posted by Ztonyg

Terminal 4 may be a functional airport terminal, but it definitely lagging many other airports when it comes to comfort and aesthetics.

The central concourse area where ticketing, baggage claim, and the security checkpoints are is very utilitarian. There's very little to almost no natural light (due to a 6 story parking garage built on top of it). The ceilings aren't really all that high and there really isn't anything distinctive about it.

The A, B, and C concourses are narrow, crowded, and weren't designed for the size of aircraft that utilize them now.

If I were the city, I wouldn't necessarily spend a ton of money on upgrading the existing Terminal 4 as everything except for concourse D is outdated and functionally obsolete (as far as airports are concerned). Instead I'd draw up a plan to completely redevelop Terminal 4 and the A, B, and C concourses similar to what was done with Terminal 3.

What the airport really should have done, instead of everything else, was build a new central terminal for all airlines at either 24th St. / Washington or 44th St. / Washington. Then an underground (beyond security) train system would connect to newly built concourses in the areas of the existing terminals / concourses are today. Sky Harbor Blvd would no longer exist through the center of the airport and the Rental Car Center / Economy Parking / Daily Parking would all be located on the private land south of Washington Street and north of the existing airport property.

I agree about rebuilding the A, B, and C concourses. Here in Houston, at IAH, they just rebuilt the north pier of Terminal C. It looks amazing, from a structural standpoint. The architecture is beautiful, not to mention all the new amenities. I'm sure the new T3 concourses will be similar.

It's strange how T4 handles most of the PHX traffic, and two major airlines have hubs in that terminal (though SW doesn't really use the term "hub"), yet T3 is the one getting modernized. They are really letting T4 go.

I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually work on those original three concourses of T4, once T3 and Concourse D are complete.

They were going to convert IAH into an ATL/DEN style layout, like you had proposed. But they ultimately decided it was too much work and construction and just decided to improve upon the existing configuration.