It seems so, yes. Pre-COVID they had ORD, IND, CMH, CLE, PIT, PHL, BWI, JAX, MSY which have not all returned since then.
~Tolbs
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Wasn’t RDU one of Delta’s focus cities? Not quite a hub but enhanced flight schedules. Now this article is a few years old. https://crankyflier.com/2021/03/09/deltas-decision-to-dump-focus-cities-makes-me-wonder-what-is-a-focus-city/
When I flew home on delta this weekend they said they were a Raleigh based crew.
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RDU is one of only 2 Delta focus city airports that remain. The other is Austin. At one point Nashville was one, along with Cincinnati and San Jose. Delta has formally dropped those 3 cities, and continues to name RDU and Austin as focus cities, although it’s kind of squishy what that actually means.
In Austin Delta is adding quite a bit of new once-a-day service on small planes to cities similar to those RDU has and used to have. Delta is extremely limited on pilots and aircraft on how much it can realistically grow anywhere. Delta’s limitations are especially problematic at Austin, which is drastically overcrowded and just now beginning and expansion of their facilities that will take years and years to create any more space for Delta or any other airline to substantially fly more volume than they already do into Austin. That’s a bit similar of a situation to RDU, which at least has already started on the enabling projects to make space for an expanded Terminal 2.
From my discussions with airport leadership, they still as of now do not know how they will pay for an expanded Terminal 2. All the current projects are for
- parking and unjamming the traffic in front of both terminals by improving the circulation and traffic flow.
- the new runway replacing the current runway adjacent to Terminal 2
- adding space for passengers to check in with luggage, clear security, and clear customs (upon arrival) more efficiently
They still need to find money for the consolidated rental car center and any terminal expansion for adding gates to terminal 2, along with anything that would ever change or expand over at Terminal 1.
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From my discussions with airport leadership, they still as of now do not know how they will pay for an expanded Terminal 2. All the current projects are for
- adding space for passengers to check in with luggage, clear security, and clear customs more efficiently
To be precise, this is part of the Terminal 2 expansion; the landside construction will break ground soon. The projects have to follow a somewhat linear progression due to space constraints. New RWY 5L-23R > convert current 5L-23R to taxiway and expand ramp > expand Terminal 2 airside in phases. Can’t do the last part until you do the first part.
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I guess in the meantime they can up their Charlotte and Atlanta service onto 747’s departing every hour.
Besides, the airport isn’t expanding all of T-2 at once and still have 3 years before they’ll likely even be able to break ground on any of the airside stuff at the earliest. In terms of landside expansion, expansion is already a necessity in terms of check-in counters, baggage claim, security lanes, and customs.
RDU to Nassau on Avelo. Should add up to 16 international routes now.
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They are also adding Grand Rapids (GRR) and resuming Wilmington, DE (ILG). This brings us to 60 destinations on Low Cost Carriers, and brings our LCC map to this:
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Better than nothing I suppose. Just so unlikely to ever plan around these limited random day fly options.
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RDU is scraping the plan for the consolidated rental car facility due to rising costs.
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Important caveat, though: they don’t seem to be getting rid of the idea of a CONRAC altogether. Instead, what they seem to be throwing out is the idea of building a whole new parking deck for it.
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or repurposing part of an existing one. One thing is certain: they need more garage spaces for the increasing number of passengers. Parking is one of the largest revenue streams RDU has, like all US airports.
The TBJ article can be read in full without a subscription. I pointed that out on a different topic but Karen flagged it LOL. Just google Archive Buttons and enjoy TBJ.
Not sure what it means for the ground transportation center, but it’s smart for the airport to reevaluate what kind of auto infrastructure they really need to build permanently, since ridesharing has dramatically changed the car rental landscape. It probably doesn’t affect us locals who rarely rent cars at our own airport, but a consolidated rental car facility (which they’re now punting on for RDU) is such a nice convenience.
Denver is finally putting one in at their airport, where renting a car is in my opinion the worst experience in any US airport anywhere. There you have to add an extra hour to your arrival even if you have elite status with Avis/Hertz etc They plan to build yet ANOTHER rail service for car renters to ride from the terminal and tear down an existing parking garage connected to the terminal. RDU is wise to not put themselves on the hook for that kind of financial cost when the ground transportation business is changing so quickly. It’d be like building rail lines here; they’re mostly permanent and to relocate them if conditions warrant them, would be exorbitantly expensive.
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RDU could build a CONRAC away from the terminals, but they seem hell-bent on doing whatever the rental car companies want. The notion that some of the decks between Terminals 1 and 2 would be given over to the rental car companies really frosts me, especially since the plan is to demolish the 1980s three-story deck adjacent to Terminal 2 (this was the parking deck for the former Terminal C). Effectively, the airport is telling residents to forget parking next to the terminals and be happy with the outlying lots.
Reading through the article I don’t think sensationalism is warranted. The CONRAC plans were very nice to look at in renderings but struck me as simultaneously quite grandiose, and at the same time an inconveniently long walk from the terminal (which is better than today’s bus ride, but still not great.)
A huge part of the discarded CONRAC design seems to be all the vertical circulation and moving walkways to provide a comfortable experience for people to reach the CONRAC from the terminal. Both expensive to build, AND inconvenient.
Putting the CONRAC in a part of the deck that’s closer to the terminal, and just building a plain parking deck where the CONRAC was supposed to go, seems a realistic change and will cut down massively on the amount of escalators and moving walkways needed.
One thing there should be more sunlight on, though, is how RDU spent $5.5 million to design a CONRAC that will never be built. That is one of two things, neither of them good: really poor management, or outright corruption.
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New Saturday flights from RDU to Punta Cana on American starting December 6th.
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From the @flyrdu instagram:
" With the addition of @americanair’s service to the Dominican Republic (@puntacanaairport ), RDU travelers now can choose from 17 nonstop international routes to 15 unique global destinations served by 11 different airlines. 
"
Impressive. RDU has an epic level of international service for an airport our size.
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My folks flew to Mexico City last week and loved the flight. Litte over 4 hrs, land at the less hectic Terminal 2, and the new airport plan collapsed so you land close to downtown. One of the great cities of the world a direct flight away. (No promotional consideration was received for this post).
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Ah, Mexico City is marvelous. What a terrific place. Now I want tacos…
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