George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)

[Reefmonkey]

23 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

I think he was referring to a far-in-the-future conceptual plan for another "East" terminal, which would be south of Will Clayton Parkway. Not worth anyone's time to think about. (1) Way far in the future (2) They aren't even following the more near-term parts of the master plan and there will be new master plans long before the East Terminal is built.

Ah, okay. Sounds like you're very well informed about what's going on at IAH, I've lived in Houston all my life, and lately it feels like I don't know IAH at all anymore. Last week I flew a United Express out of B terminal, after security I went to a big new area I had never been in before, where they had all the people flying out of several gates wait together, and then when it was time to board your flight then you were allowed to go down an escalator to a long hall at tarmac level that had multiple gates. Definitely felt like a somewhat temporary solution, all exposed cinderblock. I wouldn't be surprised if IAH is running out of gates, and would resort to airside buses, at least temporarily, until they can build another terminal. I'm curious what the limiting factor ultimately will be for IAH's growth - will it be not enough land for new terminal buildings, not enough runway to handle more flights, or air traffic issues?

[Houston19514]

37 minutes ago, Reefmonkey said:

Ah, okay. Sounds like you're very well informed about what's going on at IAH, I've lived in Houston all my life, and lately it feels like I don't know IAH at all anymore. Last week I flew a United Express out of B terminal, after security I went to a big new area I had never been in before, where they had all the people flying out of several gates wait together, and then when it was time to board your flight then you were allowed to go down an escalator to a long hall at tarmac level that had multiple gates. Definitely felt like a somewhat temporary solution, all exposed cinderblock. I wouldn't be surprised if IAH is running out of gates, and would resort to airside buses, at least temporarily, until they can build another terminal. I'm curious what the limiting factor ultimately will be for IAH's growth - will it be not enough land for new terminal buildings, not enough runway to handle more flights, or air traffic issues?

Yeah, that B South complex opened in 2013.  😉

I don't know that there any significant limiting factors, at least not that will limit the airport in any of our lifetimes.  They have plenty of land for both runways and terminals that may be needed in any reasonably imaginable future.  (And there's really no reason to expect any busing to planes, unless we have a sudden, unexpected jump in the number of flights)

Edited February 9, 2023 by Houston19514

[hbg.50]

On 2/8/2023 at 2:31 PM, Houston19514 said:

Another hit and run journalism piece.  It would have been useful, wouldn't it, if they had given a more specific location for this art piece?  If we can assume (and it would clearly be an assumption, not a presumption) that what they wrote is accurate, then the sculpture is not on airport property.  Of course one of the problems with assuming accuracy (besides it being a Chronicle article) is that it says both that the sculpture will be "near the airport's southern entrance" and "in East Aldine".  (In any event, it looks like it will not be on airport property.  

Per the maps on its website, East Aldine does not go north of Beltway 8 at JFK Blvd.  You have to go all the way down to Aldine Meadows before it even include the JFK roadway. So, if it is actually in East Aldine, the furthest north it can be is at Aldine Bender - 1.5 miles from the entrance to the airport. In the context of the article, I wouldn't call that "near" the airport entrance - one wonders why the airport is even mentioned in the article. 

 

EDIT:  Found it. The JFK sculpture is indeed at JFK and Aldine Bender, not particularly close to, and having nothing whatsoever to do with, George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Thanks again Chronicle for making a mess of it.  https://aldinedistrict.org/2023/01/update-jfk-arrives-on-jfk-boulevard/

Excellent detective work!  Good grief if the statue is south of Beltway 8 almost zero airport goers will notice it.  This sentence is so misleading: “But now JFK is finally “on JFK,” ready to attract and inspire onlookers from the neighborhood, travelers to and from Bush Intercontinental Airport and many other people.”

I guess by lumping it in with the airport they figured it would get more attention for the artist.

[mattyt36]

The central terminal roadway complex is the main impediment to continued development and has shown exactly why especially over the last couple of years. Future terminal development would have to happen at a different site. 

Maybe this B redevelopment will address it. It’d actually make sense if the A redevelopment was coordinated with B for a new central west terminal, perhaps using that space west of the Marriott to eliminate the need of driving through B to get to A. 

[Houston19514]

On 2/9/2023 at 8:36 PM, mattyt36 said:

The central terminal roadway complex is the main impediment to continued development and has shown exactly why especially over the last couple of years. Future terminal development would have to happen at a different site. 

Maybe this B redevelopment will address it. It’d actually make sense if the A redevelopment was coordinated with B for a new central west terminal, perhaps using that space west of the Marriott to eliminate the need of driving through B to get to A. 

The master plan called for consolidating A and B into one central processor.  But they seem to have abandoned that idea.

[mattyt36]

5 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

The master plan called for consolidating A and B into one central processor.  But they seem to have abandoned that idea.

Well it wouldn't really work considering UA has an exclusive long-term lease to Terminal B (assuming they exercise the redevelopment option).  Not that HAS couldn't renegotiate (and the conceptual Terminal B program appears to have changed), but the current business deal doesn't really envision it.   

[Houston19514]

1 hour ago, mattyt36 said:

Well it wouldn't really work considering UA has an exclusive long-term lease to Terminal B (assuming they exercise the redevelopment option).  Not that HAS couldn't renegotiate (and the conceptual Terminal B program appears to have changed), but the current business deal doesn't really envision it.   

Yes, as you acknowledged, the business deals can (and often have been) redone.  The Terminal B deal is at a turning point anyway...  but in any event, it appears they have opted not to go in the direction of a consolidated A/B central processor; I imagine it might be largely because United wants their own space.  Or it MIGHT be that the aforementioned roadway issues are better addressed by separating the traffic out to two separate terminals.  I don't know.

[Houston19514]

An update from Houston Airport System:

https://www.fly2houston.com/newsroom/articles/new-international-terminal-bush-airport-guiding-light-and-defining-moment-next

 

 

[Houston19514]

[Houston19514]

 

[Houston19514]

Just read an interesting item in the City Council agenda.  It has to do with a new standard agreement for airlines who use Terminal D and the ICP and FIS.  The interesting part was that United will have preferential rights to the use of three wide-body gates on the west side of the new Terminal D West pier.

Now for the really interesting part:  They will only have the preferential rights for 10 years.  What then?  Is the Terminal B FIS making a comeback?  Looking forward to seeing United's plans for Terminal B.

[editor]

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

They will only have the preferential rights for 10 years.  What then

Considering how fluid many industries, including aviation, are these days, it's probably a good idea to keep terms short.

Who knows if there will even be a United Airlines a decade from now?  It might go away.  It might get bought.  It might move.  Sure, today that sounds stupid.  But at one time nobody thought that Northwest, Pan Am, Continental, Braniff, Eastern, and dozens of other big names would cease to exist.

[yaga]

Next Wednesday May 31st at the City of Houston Economic Development Committee meeting, Houston Airport System Director Mario Diaz along with United Airlines will be presenting their IAH Terminal B Redevelopment Program. Curious to see if they will scrap the fairly new B South holding room set up or just focus on redeveloping the north side banjos. 

Edited May 25, 2023 by yaga

[Houston19514]

United's plans for Bush Intercontinental Terminal B are being presented today.

Huge rebuild of Terminal B.  They will demolish the original banjo flight stations and build two new concourses to serve narrow body and wide body aircraft.  Look like about 22 gates total, including 4 wide body gates.

Will double the footprint of the central processor; new inbound and outbound baggage systems, new security screening checkpoint, new ticketing lobby.  They will take the land that is currently surface parking east of the existing central processor.

B South will be renovated to allow for 18 gates for large regional jets, with passenger loading bridges at each gate.

They expect to start enabling projects early in the third quarter.  Construction on the B North concourses to start mid-4th Quarter (2023).  Also work on the new Processor building will start on the surface lot mid-4th Quarter (2023).  B South work is to start early next year. B South to be completed mid-year 2025.  North concourses and processor work to be completed mid-year 2026.

https://www.houstontx.gov/council/committees/econdev/20230531/United-Airlines-Terminal-B-Redevelopment.pdf

[Houston19514]

What's the over/under on when the Chronicle will report on this major development?

[Naviguessor]

It is a very transformative and interesting project...you would think that the local paper would notice. But, am I surprised...?  na

[mattyt36]

On 6/1/2023 at 12:11 PM, Houston19514 said:

What's the over/under on when the Chronicle will report on this major development?

Well it’s also kind of on HAS as well for not issuing a press release or coordinating with the media, wouldn’t you say?

[Houston19514]

28 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

Well it’s also kind of on HAS as well for not issuing a press release or coordinating with the media, wouldn’t you say?

Perhaps.  But that's no excuse. Journalism should be more than just checking the fax machine/email box. A journalist with the slightest bit of curiosity about the world around them could (should) have easily have found this information, without even leaving their house (or bed, for that matter).  Do they not even have anyone checking the agendas of City Council and Committee meetings?  Truly pathetic. 

[mattyt36]

On 6/3/2023 at 12:52 PM, Houston19514 said:

Perhaps.  But that's no excuse. Journalism should be more than just checking the fax machine/email box. A journalist with the slightest bit of curiosity about the world around them could (should) have easily have found this information, without even leaving their house (or bed, for that matter).  Do they not even have anyone checking the agendas of City Council and Committee meetings?  Truly pathetic. 

And what would you say the function of a dedicated media relations group is? Not defending the Chronicle, but did any of the TV news stations pick it up? If you operate knowingly in such an environment (it should be no surprise if you’re a professional journalist the quality of the Chronicle reporting, what they are likely to pick up, and what they aren’t), and more press was a goal, you’d kind of be a bit more proactive, no?

[editor]

On 6/3/2023 at 12:52 PM, Houston19514 said:

Perhaps.  But that's no excuse. Journalism should be more than just checking the fax machine/email box. A journalist with the slightest bit of curiosity about the world around them could (should) have easily have found this information, without even leaving their house (or bed, for that matter).  Do they not even have anyone checking the agendas of City Council and Committee meetings?  Truly pathetic. 

You're not wrong, but you're also outdated.

It's not 1990, or even 2010 anymore.  The number of journalists in America — especially in local newsrooms — has plummeted.  I'd be surprised if the Chronicle had even a quarter of the number of reporters today that it had in 2000. 

When I was in television, a 30-minute local news program in a market the size of Houston would have at minimum: two field reporters, two writers, a producer, an associate producer, an executive producer, and an intern or three.  Today, it's very often just one field reporter, a producer, and maybe an executive producer shared with other shows.  It's so bad that the anchors in Houston are even running their own TelePrompTers. That's why they have one hand on a black knob all the time. 

People complain about the poor quality and lack of local news, then instead of spending 71¢ a day to support local journalism they choose to get their "news" from social media because they think it's "free." 

Well, you get what you pay for.  Enjoy the world you made.

[Houston19514]

4 hours ago, editor said:

You're not wrong, but you're also outdated.

It's not 1990, or even 2010 anymore.  The number of journalists in America — especially in local newsrooms — has plummeted.  I'd be surprised if the Chronicle had even a quarter of the number of reporters today that it had in 2000. 

When I was in television, a 30-minute local news program in a market the size of Houston would have at minimum: two field reporters, two writers, a producer, an associate producer, an executive producer, and an intern or three.  Today, it's very often just one field reporter, a producer, and maybe an executive producer shared with other shows.  It's so bad that the anchors in Houston are even running their own TelePrompTers. That's why they have one hand on a black knob all the time. 

People complain about the poor quality and lack of local news, then instead of spending 71¢ a day to support local journalism they choose to get their "news" from social media because they think it's "free." 

Well, you get what you pay for.  Enjoy the world you made.

So it's MY fault...  Got it.  ;-)  The problem with that with regard to the Chronicle is it wasn't worth the subscription price long before the internet disrupted the economics of the newspaper business.  If they actually found some news to report (and reported it accurately), they would generate more clicks and sell more advertising and maybe even some subscriptions. I'd be happy to pay for a subscription for a news service that I could rely on to report on major news items occurring at City Council and Committee meetings, Metro board meetings, etc etc. (and as I previously mentioned, most of it can be covered without leaving one's house, hell, without leaving one's bed!)

I'm not sure how television news even came in to this conversation.  News flash:  local television news has always been free to the viewer. Their cutbacks can hardly be blamed on consumers' unwillingness to pay.

[mattyt36]

Just hit HBJ with a quote from United (but not one from HAS . . . further proving the point).

United Airlines plans redevelopment of Bush Intercontinental's Terminal B - Houston Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

[Houston19514]

1 hour ago, mattyt36 said:

Just hit HBJ with a quote from United (but not one from HAS . . . further proving the point).

United Airlines plans redevelopment of Bush Intercontinental's Terminal B - Houston Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

In fairness, this is United's project, not the airport's.  The presentation to the City Council Economic Development Committee was also done by United, not HAS.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

Back to our regular programming; courtesy of HAS:

New D West Pier

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

2 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Just hit HBJ with a quote from United (but not one from HAS . . . further proving the point).

United Airlines plans redevelopment of Bush Intercontinental's Terminal B - Houston Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

 

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

In fairness, this is United's project, not the airport's.  The presentation to the City Council Economic Development Committee was also done by United, not HAS.

[Quoting myself because I missed the brief edit window]

I noticed in the HBJ article it said this is subject to final approval by United's board.  I suspect United will issue the press releases once that has been achieved.

[mattyt36]

19 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

In fairness, this is United's project, not the airport's.  The presentation to the City Council Economic Development Committee was also done by United, not HAS.

Agenda for meeting, item 3, first person listed: Mario Diaz, Director, Houston Airport System.

https://www.houstontx.gov/council/committees/econdev/20230531/agenda.pdf

Not to mention:

(1) I'd say it's pretty "best practice" for an organization to trumpet a multiple hundred-million-dollar investment in one's facility, wouldn't you?

(2) The City has responsibility for any apron work, so it is not exclusively a United project.

While they may not want much press prior to the Board approval, the documents were presented in a public forum, so one would think it would also behoove them to "control the narrative."

[Houston19514]

2 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Agenda for meeting, item 3, first person listed: Mario Diaz, Director, Houston Airport System.

https://www.houstontx.gov/council/committees/econdev/20230531/agenda.pdf

Not to mention:

(1) I'd say it's pretty "best practice" for an organization to trumpet a multiple hundred-million-dollar investment in one's facility, wouldn't you?

(2) The City has responsibility for any apron work, so it is not exclusively a United project.

While they may not want much press prior to the Board approval, the documents were presented in a public forum, so one would think it would also behoove them to "control the narrative."

Good for you, Matty.  Excellent digging finding that agenda.

I actually watched the meeting.  Mario was not there.  Another HAS person was there.  All he did was introduce the United Airlines people and United 100% made the presentation. 

I suspect they are in agreement that there will not be press releases until the United board approves it.

Edited June 6, 2023 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

I just discovered a new tab on the front page of the HAS website labeled "Redevelopment Projects".  A lot of good photos, renderings, and videos in there.

www.fly2houston.com

 

[Houston19514]

Slides from today's update to City Council Economic Development Committee:

https://www.houstontx.gov/council/committees/econdev/20230621/ITRP-Update.pdf

In another presentation today, a rough timeline for completion of major airport projects was mentioned:

ITRP (International terminal projects) - CY 2024

Major Projects (7-gate expansion and other Southwest projects at Hobby; Skyway, Subway and a Solar farm at Bush) - CY 2027

DTRP (Terminal A Expansion; Terminal D East Pier) - CY 2031

United Rebuild of Terminal B - CY 2027

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kennyc05]

34 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

Slides from today's update to City Council Economic Development Committee:

https://www.houstontx.gov/council/committees/econdev/20230621/ITRP-Update.pdf

In another presentation today, a rough timeline for completion of major airport projects was mentioned:

ITRP (International terminal projects) - CY 2024

Major Projects (7-gate expansion and other Southwest projects at Hobby; Skyway, Subway and a Solar farm at Bush) - CY 2027

DTRP (Terminal A Expansion; Terminal D East Pier) - CY 2031

United Rebuild of Terminal B - CY 2027

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subway?