Southern US megaport Charlotte begins major renovation

Charlotte-Douglas International, the South’s other megaport, is taking the first baby steps on what’s destined to become a major rework of the airport’s 35-year old terminal. In the early eighties, CLT's (that's the airport code) prime player was Piedmont Airlines, a largely Atlantic Seaboard and East Coast carrier. USAir swallowed up Piedmont. Then American Airlines merged with USAir and became top dog at Charlotte. American counts Charlotte as its major East Coast hub, a competitive counterweight to Delta Air Lines superhub in Atlanta. By the time the dust has settled some ten years from now, plans are to have spent $US2.5-billion on a slew of new terminal enhancements and a much-needed fourth parallel runway. The capital improvement effort will see a revamped elevated roadway and terminal curb front to get passengers out of their cars and into the airport with less hassle. Concourses A, E and C will all get new restrooms, terrazzo flooring, and upgraded passenger seating replete with built-in USB ports. A larger ticketing lobby is part of the plan too. It's nothing terribly exciting, just the basic blocking and tackling that renders an airport more habitable. The renovation will occur in stages, so best get ready for some interim messiness while construction is underway. The centerpiece of the overall capital improvement effort is a planned 12,000-foot fourth parallel runway. It will be Charlotte’s longest airstrip, and feature “end-around” taxiways that means aircraft landing on the runway won’t have to cross other active runways at CLT to get to the terminal. End-arounds are both more efficient and safer. Charlotte is in real need of the new runway, due to be completed in 2022.  CLT is the sixth busiest airport in the land,according to Airports Council International-North America. In 2016 it handled 545,742 takeoffs and landings—most of them belonging to American Airlines.