Quote:
Originally Posted by F1 Tommy
Only problem with banking is it lowers daily flight count per gate.
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Not necessarily. That would depend entirely on the number of banks they operate per day. At UA's investor call part of their pitch was more efficient use of their assets. Specifically, better utilization of their gates and planes. I'm not sure how many banks they are pursing at ORD but based on their statements I think we'll see higher gate utilization not lower. Every time I'm at ORD I take note of the flights departing at other gates and how long until they depart. I often see the next flights being 2-3 hours into the future. That is terrible utilization and means there is plenty of slack for growth. That is why I don't fully buy the "UA and AA need more gates to expand at ORD" - no they just need to efficiently use what they have. Although they could probably use some new gates as well, at least in the not too distant future.
United today serves about 145 million passengers per year. So their 4-6% growth per year means 6 to 9 million more per year. They specifically mention ORD, DEN, and IAH as the target of that growth. If ORD grows proportional to it's existing size within the UA network then ORD should be pushing 90 million passengers by 2020 and that is only considering UA growth with everyone else being flat.
I eagerly await the announcement of the terminal expansion plan. Should happen any week now.