Consolidated Rental Car Facility

[catch22]

^ connections.

That's not a conscious decision by the airline. There are only so many gates, and operational needs are the driving factor, not connecting traffic as to why gates are assigned. Especially when some connection lists can be 20-30 cities deep, some will be inconvenienced while others will literally go one gate down to a connecting flight. The longest connection list I have seen out of OKC was 47 flights deep (meaning that flight had people on board connecting to 47 different flights). It's simply impossible to accommodate all connections on gate planning.

[Urbanized]

All I'm saying is that anyone who regularly flies to/from OKC can probably vouch for the fact that your OKC connection will be at the last gate possible, at the end of the concourse, more often than not. There is a hierarchy.

[Just the facts]

All I'm saying is that anyone who regularly flies to/from OKC can probably vouch for the fact that your OKC connection will be at the last gate possible, at the end of the concourse, more often than not. There is a hierarchy.

That is because the regional jets park at the ends.

[catch22]

That is because the regional jets park at the ends.

There is no hierarchy on which cities go to which gates. Trust me, you do not know what you are talking about. Gates are not assigned by cities.OKC flight may leave from gate C37 one day and gate C17 the next. It's all about what gates are scheduled to be open at what time. In fact, the hub gate assignment program my company uses tries to keep the same flights at different gates on different days. They don't want ground staff getting used to only working a certain flight number. It's to prevent complacency. If you work the same flight every day out of the same gate, you will get very accustomed to only reading one flight number or city code. Which can result in you not paying attention and end up missing something. If you work different flights every day out of your gate, you are more likely to pay closer attention to what flight you are loading and not become complacent. The staff are assigned one group of gates over a 90-120 day period, so the same team of people work the same 3 gates over several months. But the flights that come in to those gates are completely random, on purpose.

[Just the facts]

How airports work has always intrigued me, and like a lot of other things - they don't work the way one thinks they should. From my own experience here in Jax - flights to Atlanta leave out of the same gate for every flight. Going to JFK - same gate, all day, every day, every flight. Going to Miami on American - same gate all day every day. The gate shuffling happens at the hub where as Catch22 says - it is totally random ... except for cities served by regional jets. Those flights, at least in Atlanta and JFK, go out of the same gate every time. When I flew to Monroe, LA that flight departed and arrived at the exact same gate every single time and to Urbanized's point, it was at the very end of the C terminal. I am not sure what percentage of flights into OKC are regional jets but if he is flying on an RJ he might be going out of the last gate every time, but it's not because it is Oklahoma City, it's because it is an RJ. Anyhow - that has been my experience.

[AP]

All I'm saying is that anyone who regularly flies to/from OKC can probably vouch for the fact that your OKC connection will be at the last gate possible, at the end of the concourse, more often than not. There is a hierarchy.

Yes. I fly about every two weeks and have definitely noticed this.

[Tigerguy]

Hmm, I want to chime in, but I don't want to drag it further off topic...what do?

[metro]

They will pick up on the ground level but out at the furthest curb, where hotel shuttle buses current come and go.

You walk through the open coutyard and are pretty far away from the terminal building itself.

So, instead of walking 50 more feet and hopping in your rental car, you will now stand out there waiting for a shuttle.

And now us locals using the garage can have spaces back to park! As others said, it's a trend right now, and honestly OKC's new facility is one of the better buildings I've seen. Ideally we can hope and push for a "light rail" system from the terminal to car rental facility and eventually to Meridian corridor and Downtown.

[Urbanized]

That is because the regional jets park at the ends.

NOT just RJs.

[Urbanized]

There is no hierarchy on which cities go to which gates. Trust me, you do not know what you are talking about... ...blah, blah boring industry stuff blah blah... ...But the flights that come in to those gates are completely random, on purpose.

Random, but weighted so that backwater burgs end up at the far end of the terminal. I appreciate the effort, but you won't convince me otherwise. I've walked past too many major city flights in hub airports while hoofing it to the less-fancy gates at the end of the terminal, just down from gates for Amarillo and Wichita to believe otherwise. And I've had this conversation with too many other people who fly weekly for business to think its coincidental. They've usually noticed the same thing.

[catch22]

There is no weighting system other than aircraft size and ground crew availability.

I worked at a hub. I know zone controllers at hubs. There is no weighting system based on destination city. The only two weighting factors are aircraft size and ground crew availability.

OKC gets smaller aircraft, generally. So they are usually at the smaller end gates. They aren't going to waste one of seven 757 gates for an RJ when there are 38 RJ gates elsewhere on the end.

The program is usually a 3-day out forecast. It will be run today for Wednesdays schedule. On Monday, managers will look at the schedule. Tuesday zone control will double check and make changes for operational needs or last minute subs. Wednesday the gate plot will be loaded into the system. As the day goes along changes will be made as the days flying matures and some flights come in early and some late.

I can guarantee with 100% certainty that there is no weighting system.

The only places they will attempt to do that are on Shuttle Routes. For example, Delta will use their T-Gates in Atlanta for high business traffic routes, if the operation allows. Those gates are close to the ticket counter for local traffic. The other 99% of their flights don't get sorted by destination.

Other than atlanta and the T-Gates, I can't think of any other routes which the airline prioritizes gates. And that's only for 2 or 3 routes. Mainly ATL-New York.

[Tigerguy]

I'll jump in and say that it sometimes seems like they stick the OKC flight at the end of the concourse. I know my last two flights from ATL departed from B34--I remember sitting in the same seat next to a power outlet. More than a few flights I spot-checked were at one end of B/C or the other. When I flew Frontier often, the flights would rather consistently operate from A25/26. The concourse isn't bad in terms of length, but they are the end gates, and feature perhaps the longest jetways known to humankind. All mainline flights, save for an E190 here and there. Conspiracy? Perhaps, perhaps not...

[catch22]

Even if it's the same gate plot every day, there is absolutely no hierarchy to which cities go to which gates.

I can guarantee there is not a list of cities weighted by their preference.

When each gate is providing feed for 15-50 other gates, there's going to be some connections that are one gate over, and some that are 25 gates over. The flight you just landed, is going out to a different city. And there's someone connecting from across the hall and there's someone connecting from 15 gates down.

Again, there is no hierarchy on what cities are served from what gates. There is none!

[bombermwc]

The only hierarchy is as catch says, 100% related to which gates the company leases and the size of airplane the jetway can accommodate. You're not going to get a ER Jet on the same one as a 757. The incline of the ramp only can go so far before it's difficult for people to get up/down the ramp.....or for it to even reach the plane. That's why you see terminals (at OKC too) at different elevations....and that includes tarmac level gates for those little crappy puddle jumpers we seem to get so much of in OKC. At least in OKC, the new terminal jetways accommodate smaller jets without needing tarmac access. Been there, done that, at Bush, DFW, and OKC....it sucks.

[Plutonic Panda]

2/17/2015

[HOT ROD]

any updates?

[UnFrSaKn]

The latest I heard through the grapevine is it won't be until Q1 or later next year until completion. It is a huge project that will probably face more delays. Right now they are working on the southbound lane on Meridian across from the facility. It looks like sewer related, as part of the new facility. I can't see much from the road even though I drive past it two times a day.

[Paule4ou]

According to the OKC Airport Trust construction update report from their April 23rd meeting the scheduled in-service date for the facility is still January 5, 2016.

http://www.okc.gov/agendapub/cache/2...5084943496.PDF

[UnFrSaKn]

Those okc.gov links usually expire quickly.

[AP]

Mentioned today in the Airport Trust meeting that this is slated to be open March 2nd.

[HOT ROD]

Pete, please take a few pics on your way out.

[Pete]

Haha... The laugh is on the Airport Trust as I have now moved back and will likely never have to use this thing!

Photos from Will:

[catch22]

Not a huge fan of the choice of stone.

[Dustin]

Haha... The laugh is on the Airport Trust as I have now moved back and will likely never have to use this thing!

Welcome back!

[ljbab728]

Not a huge fan of the choice of stone.

True. I don't think it looks bad but it would have been nice to more closely replicate the stone work in the terminal.