Omaha Eppley Airfield - CONSTRUCTION

[Mr.Nuke]

And once Delta moves to these new gates, are we thinking United or Southwest will slide over?

Brad covered most of it, but I'd doubt it. Whoever takes the initial "new" gates be it Delta or someone else will obvious vacate their old gates. Leaving those temporarily "empty" would allow the construction workers to go in and "modernize" them to the new terminal standards. It would make some sense to play minor musical chairs there temporarily to get the new carpet, tile, finishes, etc. installed.

Like Brad said though, the bulk of the "new" gates early next year are ultimately going to end up going to Southwest and United simply because they have to move.

[riceweb]

That timing makes sense now.... I was thinking it would be a mess if they were somehow mixing north and south terminals in this process. So Delta will *temporarily* move to the new gates in the center, they'll do musical chairs while they renovate the old south terminal, and then at some point, Southwest and United will move to the new gates in the center once the central pavilion is open and new check-in counters are ready.

I was assuming that there wouldn't be enough gates for everyone until they bulldoze the existing north terminal and extend the new gates northward, that there'd be this awkward squeeze for a while? And I guess they might still be a bit squeezed for a while, certainly no surplus of gates.

[riceweb]

When I count the gates in the diagrams, it looks like they'll have 16 gates available once they start demolishing the old north terminal. They're using 17 today (when I look at the Eppley Arrivals page and get the distinct count of gates). So still going to be a bit of a mess until the new north terminal opens up and the airlines can spread out a bit.

[Mr.Nuke]

And I guess they might still be a bit squeezed for a while, certainly no surplus of gates.

Everyone already did the gate dance once for the tarmac work. Like you've noted now is the time to do this with the excess gate capacity.

[Mr.Nuke]

They did gate fit checks last week on the first of the new gates expected to open (still presumably at some point next month). And on the last photo of that post, the inside of that part of the new terminal looks done. The lounge looks like it has a ways to go. Also pretty good confirmation of Delta moving to the first of the new gates, given their planes were used for the fit checks.

[Brad]

And on the last photo of that post, the inside of that part of the new terminal looks done. The lounge looks like it has a ways to go.

Its been many months since our tour, but if I'm remembering correctly, the stairs to that lounge are a little closer to the central pavilion and not this area that will open first.

[Mr.Nuke]

Its been many months since our tour, but if I'm remembering correctly, the stairs to that lounge are a little closer to the central pavilion and not this area that will open first.

Correct it is immediately to the South of the of the central pavilion. I didn't mean to imply that it would be opening as part of the initial phase, I was just commenting that it is the best look of that space too in months and it doesn't look like they've done a whole lot yet other than some metal framing.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Interesting that they appear to be continuing with an 'A' side and a 'B' side for gate numbering, judging from the numbers on the jet bridges. Odd that the letter comes second.

Also, a bit nitpicky, but I'm not sure how I feel about the gray exterior panels. They look like they were on the cheaper end of paneling options.

[Mr.Nuke]

Interesting that they appear to be continuing with an 'A' side and a 'B' side for gate numbering, judging from the numbers on the jet bridges. Odd that the letter comes second.

I don't think they are. What appears to be going on is that they're wanting two #1 gates presumably to keep everyone else on the South side in the same gate numbers (ignore the A/B prefix for a second) until the entire terminal opens next Spring. The 1B would also be to the North of 1A under your line of thought. It isn't. Beyond that there is no connection from 1B to the "B" gates until the terminal completely opens next Spring.

There currently is no gate 1 due to the old gate 1 being blocked off by the new CUP and obviously the linear terminal, so it would make some sense to potentially doubling up a gate number there not to screw up the current numbering for the rest of the terminal. From what we have as recently as last last year, there is entirely different number sequence in the final configuration. What is being shown as 1A and 1B would ultimately be gates 13 and 12.

[CrankyOldDude]

This has been covered briefly over the last couple of years and I know there are tentative plans for an additional two gates I believe on the south side of the new terminal but I also heard that longer term, and I assume very longer, additional gates and possibly extending the terminal are also planned for as needed.

Has anyone seen or heard about this?

I haven't typed that long of a sentence in a very long time.

[Mr.Nuke]

This has been covered briefly over the last couple of years and I know there are tentative plans for an additional two gates I believe on the south side of the new terminal but I also heard that longer term, and I assume very longer, additional gates and possibly extending the terminal are also planned for as needed.

Has anyone seen or heard about this?

Nothing has changed. By 2028 when they tear down what is the existing North concourse and rebuild it, the airport will be at 22 gates. Per the "competitive plan" they posted last year they appear to think they can squeeze two more gates in the existing South concourse. to get to 24. PAL 3, or 7 million passengers annually, would call for 4 more gates to get to 28. Those new gates from everything available publicly would be off the north side. The more linear nature of the terminal ultimately will let them build off of whatever end they want to.

[CrankyOldDude]

Nothing has changed. By 2028 when they tear down what is the existing North concourse and rebuild it, the airport will be at 22 gates. Per the "competitive plan" they posted last year they appear to think they can squeeze two more gates in the existing South concourse. to get to 24. PAL 3, or 7 million passengers annually, would call for 4 more gates to get to 28. Those new gates from everything available publicly would be off the north side. The more linear nature of the terminal ultimately will let them build off of whatever end they want to.

Pretty long stretch from 5.25M to 7M. I don't see a need for more than 22 for the time being. Of course, I could be wrong.

[joleo]

Nothing has changed. By 2028 when they tear down what is the existing North concourse and rebuild it, the airport will be at 22 gates. Per the "competitive plan" they posted last year they appear to think they can squeeze two more gates in the existing South concourse. to get to 24. PAL 3, or 7 million passengers annually, would call for 4 more gates to get to 28. Those new gates from everything available publicly would be off the north side. The more linear nature of the terminal ultimately will let them build off of whatever end they want to.

Pretty long stretch from 5.25M to 7M. I don't see a need for more than 22 for the time being. Of course, I could be wrong.

With the price of airfares, traffic isn't going up fast any time soon unless fares come back down. The United CEO said even if fuel comes back down, don't expect airfares to drop, he said they have been way too cheap way too long.

Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant and Breeze help keep fares down, and Spirit doesn't even exist and Breeze doesn't serve Omaha and Frontier barely services omaha these days.

[OverlookedFarm]

I believe the response to rate pressure will be lower frequency departures per destination city/area and larger aircraft. 767-757-787-350.

I believe in the past, long long time ago, there was 757 and 767s here. I think it was United.

The days of 10 departures to Ohare and 7 to Dallas or whatever they are, are probably done in light of SWAs struggles. Every time I have flown the longer hauls to DC, LA, NYC there have been a decent amount of empties.

I still think there will be a strong market for direct point service .

Airlines are deregulated, but, they are still de facto controlled by local airport authorities for gates and by who is allowed to go insolvent or needs a bailout.

I recently looked at fares to Atlanta for 4 of us, and for a $2600 all in, I think I will drive it.

[Blade1655]

Was the canopy that stretches from the parking garage to the main entrances intended to shelter the area from rain?

I came through yesterday - and granted it was a major rain event - but it was leaking / raining under the canopy just as hard as it was raining outside.

[thenewguy]

Was the canopy that stretches from the parking garage to the main entrances intended to shelter the area from rain?

I came through yesterday - and granted it was a major rain event - but it was leaking / raining under the canopy just as hard as it was raining outside.

i suspect it is meant to shelter from typical rains, but the one-off remnants of a hurricane scale deluge is probably outside the original intention

[riceweb]

And I really wouldn't consider rain to be the primary threat they're protecting from. The canopies are high up and not very wide, so I've never thought my car wouldn't get rained on, because rain and mist often come in sideways in Nebraska with any bit of wind (or in this case, because the volume was just so great).

The canopies are really there to protect from mid-day sun and from hail. That's all.

[BuildTaller]

I recently looked at fares to Atlanta for 4 of us, and for a $2600 all in, I think I will drive it.

Now check Dublin. $3400 for 4 people connecting through Atlanta.

[mchine73]

Couple interior photos.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Omaha/s/qzMSUAGIhX

[Brad]

Couple interior photos.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Omaha/s/qzMSUAGIhX

That's looking Great!

[riceweb]

Doesn't look like a ton of seating? I dunno, it's pretty basic in this stretch, but it's also a part that's not really intended to have a lot of zazz, because it's not a stretch that would have shops.

[thenewguy]

that looks fantastic, seriously. The finish is great, very soothing. I love the black/brown/lighting

[djc311]

Just took off out of Eppley on Monday from north terminal - obviously still a mess, but it's exciting to see the progress! Looking forward to "normal" food options and the centralized security process. It's kinda funny that airport seating seems to
remain the same from 1970 to 2030... LOL.

[thenewguy]

Just took off out of Eppley on Monday from north terminal - obviously still a mess, but it's exciting to see the progress! Looking forward to "normal" food options and the centralized security process. It's kinda funny that airport seating seems to
remain the same from 1970 to 2030... LOL.

i know what you're saying. Of all the airports I've been in, they all seem to have just about the same exact seating at every airport (except ours is brown and theirs are black). Maybe there's only one major player in the airport-seating game

[Louie]

This will age well, imo.

[OverlookedFarm]

Doesn't look like a ton of seating? I dunno, it's pretty basic in this stretch, but it's also a part that's not really intended to have a lot of zazz, because it's not a stretch that would have shops.

That was my initial thought.

Simple math is, you need twice as much seating as 2 back to back departures per gate. Especially with a spoke end heavy morning departure city.

Here is what I find makes an airport comfortable:

1. White noise (Relaxing, tunes you out of hearing things that make you want to die inside)
2. Cool, steady and flowing air. (You can always put on your jacket, but overheating sucks, and smelling Crappy McGees pizza is unappealing)
3. Off set light. Not direct n your eye. The current design actually does this well.
4. Open and flowing bathrooms, big enough for your bag and to park your bag while in use.
5. Cool Neon. Seriously, this is what makes OHare, Tampa, Atlanta neat.
6. Easy to clean and maintain. Not only is it cheaper, and easier, it also looks better.
7. Modern, but not sterile. Make it inviting. Modern design and architecture has failed here.
8. High ceilings.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Looks very nice! A huge upgrade from the current airport. I really like the brown seats. Every airport seems to have the same black seats, so there seems to be some uniqueness there.

To my knowledge, there are two other airports that are currently being rebuilt and have passenger traffic relatively similar to OMA - Des Moines and Hollywood Burbank. All three, OMA, DSM, and BUR, are using very similar interior finishes.

[BuildTaller]

Looks fantastic. Welcome to the 21st century.

To my knowledge, there are two other airports that are currently being rebuilt and have passenger traffic relatively similar to OMA - Des Moines and Hollywood Burbank. All three, OMA, DSM, and BUR, are using very similar interior finishes.

Mesa (AZA) was/is similar when they redid their terminal too. I used to fly there often for work before the pandemic.