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The ABIA Thread of Gross Incompetence

ztejas

By ztejas
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USCATX

USCATX 1078

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32 minutes ago, Blotto said:

Exhibit 101 why I fucking despise air travel these days. I flew out of AUS two weeks ago (Friday 9AM). Arrived at the terminal an hour and 15 minutes early, and was at my gate with an hour to spare. Place was fucking empty. Just no rhyme nor reason to this type of chaos. Fuck showing up 3 hours early because they cant keep their fucking computer systems up. 

Flew out last Friday afternoon and it was a ghost town, but so was SEA.  When the meltdowns come they’re horrendous, but it does seem a little better overall lately. 

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Grade of D as in David

Grade of D as in David 13253

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39 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Right, so we plan projects that take 5-10 years to complete that get us to the current population instead of using foresight and plan a project that takes into account another 5-10 years of growth. So when it finally gets completed, it’s useless. 

You just described the freeway planning in Houston for the past 50 years.

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Captainant

Captainant 27640

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40 minutes ago, Blotto said:

Exhibit 101 why I fucking despise air travel these days. I flew out of AUS two weeks ago (Friday 9AM). Arrived at the terminal an hour and 15 minutes early, and was at my gate with an hour to spare. Place was fucking empty. Just no rhyme nor reason to this type of chaos. Fuck showing up 3 hours early because they cant keep their fucking computer systems up. 

[laughs in privatized public infrastructure]

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Pescado_Rojo

Pescado_Rojo 19416

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Bergstrom's biggest problem is it was built right before 9/11, so security wasn't a design concern. You look at newer terminals like MSY, MCI, the remodelled BNA and they all have much larger areas in front of security. You put 100 people in a TSA line at Bergstrom and the line snakes down the hallway. At the new MSY terminal, the queue isn't even fully roped off with 100 people, and there's 5 regular and 3 TSA pre lines and everything moves like a well oiled machine. 

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YGIFS

YGIFS 19449

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But the good news is the new rail line to the airport from the CBD/East Austin area will help expedite the security line wait times by literally stopping at 183 so you can queue up about where the back of the line starts.  This is all coming a great time.  

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DaysOff

DaysOff 7947

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It’s pretty clear ABIA has capacity issues, I don’t get why the airport doesn’t just start limiting flights? Don’t they have the power to tell the airlines they are only going to get so many flights a day? 

Lolz. It's not LaGuardia. ABIA doesn't have a capacity issue; it has a run by morons issue.
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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105082

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6 minutes ago, DaysOff said:


Lolz. It's not LaGuardia. ABIA doesn't have a capacity issue; it has a run by morons issue.

Well, it does have a capacity issue on occasion, by nature of the size of the area outside of security, the relatively small number of security stations, and how flights are stacked.  The initial flurry of flights most days is from 6-8 am.  Thus, security first thing in the morning is an utter shitshow.  Once you get past that clump, like to 9:00, things get manageable again.

But you are correct, we should also not discount the moron component.

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mchookem

mchookem 16324

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oh god... i've got a funeral and am flying in Sunday, back out on Wednesday... but i purposely booked a mid-afternoon flight home to try and avoid the rush. please god let me get out of there smoothly lol. 

ugh i just hate everything about air travel, from parking to the seats! sometime post 9/11 it just became an experience where they literally try to make you as uncomfortable, frustrated and stressed as possible...and charge you more and more to experience it. and i'm an experienced traveler! it's just an overall completely unpleasant yet expensive experience 😝

honestly... one of my main concerns/worries about potentially fulfilling bucket list trips to Europe and French Polynesia is just fucking getting there. bleah.

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shakahorn

shakahorn 1645

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3 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

Austin is so desperate to be a real city, but continues time and time again to fall flat on its face.  We're a homeless guy in an evening gown, stumbling around trying to get admitted to fancy restaurants for dinner.  Only the places with drunk hostesses think we're cool and let us in.  I know it won't happen, but I'd sure like to see this pandemic bump in population evaporate into thin air.  Surely people who moved here in the last couple of years have to be asking themselves, "What the fuck have I done?".   The airport is half the size it needs to be, the traffic is as bad as cities four times its size, and you can't even find a fucking primary care physician who can see you sooner than six months from now.  Austin does not have the infrastructure, private industry, or anything else to satisfy a population half its size, despite the city drowning in tax dollars to play with.  What a shit show.

Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

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  • ztejas changed the title to The ABIA Thread of Gross Incompetence
Longhorn94

Longhorn94 2448

Posted
Posted (edited)

I fly out of AUS weekly. It's a relatively easy airport to get to, fly out of, and fly into. Very few delays. Almost no issues. It's my favorite airport and am glad it's my home base. JFK and LAX can be nightmares. And don't get me started on SFO or LaGuardia. MSP and Det are also great. SLC is awesome. ATL is not so much.

I did fly out this morning and I have never seen it like that. The clear line was crazy long and it was the shortest.

Edited by Longhorn94
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ztejas

ztejas 43414

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5 minutes ago, Longhorn94 said:

I fly out of AUS weekly. It's a relatively easy airport to get to, fly out of, and fly into. Very few delays. Almost no issues. It's my favorite airport and am glad it's my home base. JFK and LAX can be nightmares. And don't get me started on SFO or LaGuardia. MSP and Det are also great. SLC is awesome. ATL is not so much.

I did fly out this morning and I have never seen it like that. The clear line was crazy long and it was the shortest.

How Dare You Greta GIF

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mchookem

mchookem 16324

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the last time we flew out of Denver in early May, the security line was INSANE. like it wrapped all the way around to the other side of the terminal where the baggage claim was. BUT... it seemed to be moving quickly (i was asking people periodically throughout the line how long since they queued up to gage, it was moving at a good pace so we didn't panic...

wasn't bad, took about 25 to get to the big open atrium like area, where we realize... they had removed ALL of the Disney-like serpentine line and were routing everyone two-by-two directly into one specific choke point...bc they were training a security 🐕 😖😝  as we were entering that area they finished up right behind us, took the dog away and started reconfiguring the serpentines. the length of that line was crazy when stretched out straight!

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Texas Jeff

Texas Jeff 1945

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I saw that line walking up to the airport yesterday and panicked a bit. Total time in line for precheck was 12 minutes. The suckers in the main line had a longer wait, but it was moving.

The throughput appeared to be gated by the number of folks they had checking IDs. Add one more and the queue would have probably gone to zero.
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mchookem

mchookem 16324

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On 6/16/2023 at 9:02 PM, mchookem said:

the last time we flew out of Denver in early May, the security line was INSANE. like it wrapped all the way around to the other side of the terminal where the baggage claim was. BUT... it seemed to be moving quickly (i was asking people periodically throughout the line how long since they queued up to gage, it was moving at a good pace so we didn't panic...

wasn't bad, took about 25 to get to the big open atrium like area, where we realize... they had removed ALL of the Disney-like serpentine line and were routing everyone two-by-two directly into one specific choke point...bc they were training a security 🐕 😖😝  as we were entering that area they finished up right behind us, took the dog away and started reconfiguring the serpentines. the length of that line was crazy when stretched out straight!

haha and after all that story it took me <4 mins to get thru security this morning 😄 you just never know i guess.

there's a train stop 8 mins from our house, i was going to try that this trip... but it's under maintenance this weekend and I would have to switch to a bus at the next stop which would have taken twice as long. which of course i saw after i'd bought my ticket 🙄

luckily my mate waited bc i was freezing outside this morning...i refused to even bring a jacket to the Blastfurnace and i'm wearing as few clothes as possible 😄

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jdhorn92

jdhorn92 1545

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 6/16/2023 at 7:59 PM, bschoolprof said:

I read an article that Juneteenth has turned into a big travel weekend, so maybe that was part of it?

I read that too.  Transportation Sec Pete was saying last week they anticipated this weekend being the busiest travel day since the Pandemic.  19th is a Federal holiday.  As others have said, this may have been isolated to AUS.  I'm flying to Roanoke tomorrow on Delta on my way to the Greenbrier, so curious to see how it goes.

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Grade of D as in David

Grade of D as in David 13253

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2 hours ago, mchookem said:

haha and after all that story it took me <4 mins to get thru security this morning 😄 you just never know i guess.

there's a train stop 8 mins from our house, i was going to try that this trip... but it's under maintenance this weekend and I would have to switch to a bus at the next stop which would have taken twice as long. which of course i saw after i'd bought my ticket 🙄

luckily my mate waited bc i was freezing outside this morning...i refused to even bring a jacket to the Blastfurnace and i'm wearing as few clothes as possible 😄

Season 6 Flirt GIF by Friends

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MrBig

MrBig 5385

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On 6/16/2023 at 3:06 PM, Pescado_Rojo said:

Bergstrom's biggest problem is it was built right before 9/11, so security wasn't a design concern. You look at newer terminals like MSY, MCI, the remodelled BNA and they all have much larger areas in front of security. You put 100 people in a TSA line at Bergstrom and the line snakes down the hallway. At the new MSY terminal, the queue isn't even fully roped off with 100 people, and there's 5 regular and 3 TSA pre lines and everything moves like a well oiled machine. 

I agree with this, but I am pretty sure that if ABIA had a larger queue area for TSA security, they would take even longer. Even though the long lines are fucking stupid, it creates a sense of urgency that the line should be moving. If we had a huge area where everyone can be roped off to the side, TSA would not be pressured to move things along quicker.

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texasdago

texasdago 7569

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On 6/16/2023 at 7:38 PM, Longhorn94 said:

I fly out of AUS weekly. It's a relatively easy airport to get to, fly out of, and fly into. Very few delays. Almost no issues. It's my favorite airport and am glad it's my home base. JFK and LAX can be nightmares. And don't get me started on SFO or LaGuardia. MSP and Det are also great. SLC is awesome. ATL is not so much.

I did fly out this morning and I have never seen it like that. The clear line was crazy long and it was the shortest.

IAH was my home airport for decades.  Now that I fly out of ABIA, I love it.  So much easier.  Security can suck but we have Prechek so it's not bad.  Plus before it would take me 35 minutes door-to-door and now it takes me 20.  I'll take it... 

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TKthunder2

TKthunder2 4985

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1 hour ago, Bevo said:

For a 500am flight out of Austin, what time do we need to get to the airport?

The security doesn’t open until 330am so not before then. Check how many early departures there are that day but I’d guess if you get there 1 hour before you’d be fine.

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Samson's Wig

Samson's Wig 3191

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On 6/16/2023 at 2:48 PM, hornbri said:

It’s pretty clear ABIA has capacity issues, I don’t get why the airport doesn’t just start limiting flights? Don’t they have the power to tell the airlines they are only going to get so many flights a day? 

This city will bend over backward for anything that brings outside money in, even to the detriment of the city, and it has been decided that tourists are the answer to everything.  I do not understand for one second why someone would come to Austin as a tourist.  What the fuck do they do here that is so special and can't happen almost anywhere else? Coming here for a convention or other event, sure.  But just to visit?  I don't get it.  As for convention activities, SXSW is a prime example of something that has grown too large for Austin to handle. It's a complete shit-show every year now, and by all rights should move to a city better equipped to handle that volume of tourists at one time.  But fuck no, we're going to cram even more people in, despite having too few hotel rooms, too few rental cars, too few traffic lanes, and too few of absolutely everything except young Instagrammers spending daddy's money.  They're never going to limit flights.  You'll wait in line for four hours outside in the Texas heat, and you'll like it.

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Homercles

Homercles 10205

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Knock on wood, but Pre has been a lifesaver…both the shorter lines and no liquids/shoes/laptop bullshit.  Even with kids in tow it rarely takes more than ten minutes.  

What got me this past week when we flew out of AUS is the gate areas are often incredibly small for the number of passengers…they keep cramming more seats on planes and up-gauging to mainline at gates originally meant for regionals/legacy MD-80 types.  And fuck those terminal-end locations, especially the SW rotunda thing at DCA.  

You either get there super early, stand the whole time, sit on the floor or find an empty gate for open seats…but then can lose the means to know when your boarding group is called if you’re too far away.  Besides, everyone loves to crowd around the gate anyways, so you have to navigate a wall of people.  

Whole process just sucks.  

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ztejas

ztejas 43414

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19 minutes ago, Samson&#x27;s Wig said:

I do not understand for one second why someone would come to Austin as a tourist.  What the fuck do they do here that is so special and can't happen almost anywhere else? Coming here for a convention or other event, sure.  But just to visit?  I don't get it. 

7pvp6t.jpg.f905bbbac49aa35eff591df296961b66.jpg

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Chewbacca

Chewbacca 7767

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haha and after all that story it took me there's a train stop 8 mins from our house, i was going to try that this trip... but it's under maintenance this weekend and I would have to switch to a bus at the next stop which would have taken twice as long. which of course i saw after i'd bought my ticket
luckily my mate waited bc i was freezing outside this morning...i refused to even bring a jacket to the Blastfurnace and i'm wearing as few clothes as possible
Some people complain about DIA, but I love it. Easy to get in and out and the Pre line is never all that long.
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texasdago

texasdago 7569

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1 hour ago, Samson&#x27;s Wig said:

This city will bend over backward for anything that brings outside money in, even to the detriment of the city, and it has been decided that tourists are the answer to everything.  I do not understand for one second why someone would come to Austin as a tourist.  What the fuck do they do here that is so special and can't happen almost anywhere else? Coming here for a convention or other event, sure.  But just to visit?  I don't get it.  As for convention activities, SXSW is a prime example of something that has grown too large for Austin to handle. It's a complete shit-show every year now, and by all rights should move to a city better equipped to handle that volume of tourists at one time.  But fuck no, we're going to cram even more people in, despite having too few hotel rooms, too few rental cars, too few traffic lanes, and too few of absolutely everything except young Instagrammers spending daddy's money.  They're never going to limit flights.  You'll wait in line for four hours outside in the Texas heat, and you'll like it.

I get it... Austin is a fun town, lots to do regardless of the season.  Even when the ground is melting, you can at least jump into Barton Springs, catch a show, drink, etc.  

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USCATX

USCATX 1078

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We landed tonight a little before midnight and the baggage claim was a shit show. 1 is closed with temp barriers around it and a skinny one bag wide tunnel to the escalator up, 2-3 a teaming mass of humanity and 4-6 all partially blocked by some construction consisting of one dude running an angle grinder.  The middle escalator was closed and it was generally the most third world baggage claim experience since the last time I flew out of an actual third world country.  Austin makes the shabby airports in Mexico look great these days. 

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Ghost of LL

Ghost of LL 15531

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On 6/16/2023 at 2:21 PM, Biff Tannen said:

Right, so we plan projects that take 5-10 years to complete that get us to the current population instead of using foresight and plan a project that takes into account another 5-10 years of growth. So when it finally gets completed, it’s useless. 

At the extreme risk of making excuses for the City, it isn't entirely (or even primarily) the City's fault.

The City has to have approval and money from the FAA to expand.  And the FAA has never believed the growth projections for AUS.  Even as those projections have been exceeded year after year, the FAA has remained skeptical.  So the FAA isn't moving particularly fast to approve building.  And it's certainly not going to move forward on a 30-year project when it thinks we'll never need it.

The FAA could be moved if we had an airline going to bat for us.  The airlines grease the wheels over at the FAA (as reflected in some of the IG investigations).  So when DFW wants to build a new Terminal F to serve AA, AA is going to send its lobbyists over to the FAA to make sure that gets fast tracked.  And AA will probably kick in some money to get that project moving.

But AUS doesn't have a hub.  We have a bunch of airlines with significant, but not dominant, market share.  Neither Delta nor Southwest nor American are going to spend any effort to get the FAA to accelerate an expansion of AUS, because it would benefit their competitors at least as much as it would them.  And they're certainly not going to kick in money for an expansion.  

From a competitive standpoint, it makes it great for consumers here in AUS.  Airfares remain very low compared to airports of comparable size where airlines have a hub.  If you want to fly to Chicago, you've got three different airlines competing with pretty high frequencies.  But it does mean that the facilities aren't going to be expanded as quickly as AA is going to make sure DFW is expanded.

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