RDU Shows Off Terminal 2
On Saturday the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority opened the doors to Phase One of the new Terminal 2 to the public with an impressive open house. The celebration showed off the new 920,000 square foot, $570 million terminal which will offer expanded security areas and improved efficiency with check-in and baggage security and routing.
After being shuttled to the upper levels of the hourly parking garage, visitors were greeted in the parking plaza with a jazz band, the first of many dotted throughout the terminal during this seminal event. Upon entering the front door of the terminal, it is easy to be swept away by the arcing, curved ceiling. Made of glue-laminated layers, the sturdy wood beams carry a shape reminiscent of a wing’s airfoil shape. Dramatic windows have been incorporated to allow in much natural light. The ticketing area contains two island style ticketing stations as well as individual kiosks for express check in.
The layout for the new terminal is essentially the same as that for the old Terminal C; a big “H”. The isthmus, again, is the site of security, only this time, there is no grade change until one is beyond the security areas.
The single, long concourse is similar to that in Terminal C, however the building is about 25 feet wider. The extra room accommodates bidrectional travelators as well as numerous full-service restaurants. The ceiling is a continuation of the arched airfoil concept, and contains many strips of glass to allow in natural light. The three big restaurants that will be open in this phase are 42nd Street Oyster Bar, Carolina Ale House, and Gordon Beirsch.
The concourse features some welcome improvements. The bathrooms are large and well-lit. The seating areas at the gates have some end tables with hidden power outlets. While AC outlets are offered, other form factors such as USB are offered. Finally, the large displays throughout the concourse are on par with the flatscreen displays that are appearing in the nation’s best airports.
As stated before, the isthmus is on the ticketing level, so arriving passengers must ride up a short escalator, then down a long escalator to access the baggage claim areas. The baggage claim area is unremarkable. The best kept secret in this complex, however, is the aluminum tree sculpture at the baggage claim entrance on the lower level. The tree’s base is outside, though some of its branches seemingly “pass through” the building’s two-story windows.
The terminal will no doubt offer an improved ticketing, security, and dining experience. The use of large windows will allow the building to utilize natural light for most of the time that passengers are using the building. Overall, the architectural design is stunning, and will make an excellent impression on those arriving to our area for the first time.
However, upon leaving the building, I have to wonder if this is the best way we could have spent just over half a billion dollars. Will the added natural light’s savings be offset by the additional costs to heat and condition the vast spaces inside the terminal? Will the movement of passengers up and down escalators eventually be seen as a backward way to move people? The facility only offers 4 more gates than Terminal C offered. Will this offer adequate revenues to help pay for this very expensive building? Will people actually use these full-service restaurants on the concourse? I can see this working in a hub setting, but in a point-to-point airport, the only customers they will get is those arriving early for their flight.
The new terminal is much like getting new shoes to wear with suits when your old shoes weren’t that bad…and your casual shoes are embarrassingly awful. The explanation I was given for replacing Terminal C first, instead of Terminal A, is that the airport could not move all of Terminal A’s functions into Terminal C while Terminal A is being replaced. With Terminal 2, they supposedly will be able to move the Terminal A airlines to 2 while replacing A. How will they accomplish this with just four more gates in Terminal 2?
Unfortunately Terminal 2 is another giant missed opportunity in RDU’s history. Ever since 1987 we have operated two airports at RDU; one right across the street from the other. Whether it be parking decks, ticketing areas, baggage claims, runways, control towers, or concourses, there are at least two of everything at RDU. If we’re building a baggage claim facility, a ticketing area, and a security area, why not build such that both concourses can use it?
By building a central terminal and connecting it to just the concourses in the existing terminals, RDU could have set itself up for easy, efficient expansion and renovation in the future as well as incredible efficiency in the present. This design is called the landside/airside design and it has been so beloved in Tampa since 1971 that Orlando used it when it built its new airport in 1981. A central terminal almost the size of Orlando’s could easily fit on the NE side of RDU’s parking decks. People movers are so flexible, that future gates could be put virtually anywhere along the runways.
There are two main arguments I’ve heard against the landside/airside design for RDU. One is that Southwest Airlines likes their arrangement in the Terminal B section of Terminal A. They have full control of their gates, their security area, and their baggage claim. They have apparently been resistant to any changes. Second, the inter-runway space between RDU’s two primary runways is much smaller than most airports. The original design was to build twin runways beside Terminal C, so the 5L/23R runway was placed as close as possible to Terminal C to allow for its eventual twin.
That said, most airside/landside arrangements have central terminals, but there is no law stating that the central terminal cannot be offset, as depicted above. (The green lines represent roadways and the orange lines represent people movers. Terminals 2 and C can be seen in the top of the picture, while Terminal A is at the bottom.). In fact, if the road entering the airport could be aligned to run along the edge of the parking decks, it would be entirely possible to rebuild Terminal A as a two-sided concourse.
While Terminal 2 is will be impressing a lot of people in the next few years, it depressing to think of what could have been.
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October 13th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
As a regular air traveler I will say I am THRILLED we are getting a serviceable termainl in Raleigh. Excellent.
I am rather stunned at the negative second guessing of the author. I hail from Upstate NY and I can tell you with a measure of authority that this kind of second guessing is what killed the cities there.
The terminal is appropriate in scale and scope for Raleigh. We are not Orlando, or God forbid, Tampa. Let’s move toward completion of all the terminals and stop the silly comparsions to places we are not, nor want to be. Let’s be Raleigh - the place where people want to come, and want to stay.
Kudos to the designer and the people who made the decision to go !
October 13th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Regarding the choice to renovate/replace Terminal C/2 before Terminal A/1: The current plan is to tear down the existing part of Terminal C, and build out Terminal 2 to replace those lost gates. This will free up gate space for the eventual renovation of Terminal A/1.
The ground transportation infrastructure at RDU actually is quite centralized - the parking structure nicely serves both terminals. I don’t see the need for a central terminal structure … just puts people and their baggage farther from their gates, and requires an expensive people-mover system for no real benefit, when no single airline dominates the RDU market, and would thus never require more than one of the current terminal spaces. And the nature of the RDU market is such that it will never again be feasible as an airline hub.
Is the new structure “greener” than the old one? Improvements in building technology and HVAC efficiency probably outweigh any additional cost for maintaining a comfortable indoor environment, and the space is, architecturally speaking, a vast improvement over the status quo.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
I have to agree with Mike here. I was also surprised by the pessimistic view of the new terminal……let’s be RDU and Raleigh, not something or somebody else.
As someone who uses RDU weekly, I’m thrilled with the new Terminal 2 and appreciate the new terminal for what it is; an excellent start in bringing RDU out of the 1980s. An overwhelming majority of people start/end their travel at RDU and the new variety in restaurants and stores and overall modern elements in the new terminal are a welcome change and something to be proud of. Yes, even though RDU is not a hub anymore on busy weekly travel days the restaurants are busy.
RDU flights are currently operating entirely out of approximately 35 gates between Terminals A and C for all ten major airlines. Upon the completion of the Terminal 2 Phase II in 2011, seven of ten major airlines will use the 32 new T2 gates. This will consolidate and centralize the ticketing, security and baggage for roughly 65% of RDU’s annual passengers to Terminal 2 while JetBlue, AirTran and majority holder, Southwest, continue out of Terminal A (or 1)…which as stated in the article, is what makes Southwest happy. One has to assume that Terminal A will be replaced/renovated in sections allowing these airlines to maintain operations in that terminal during construction, similar to the Terminal 2 construction plan.
While I do agree that RDU needs some sort of post-security people mover between terminals that will allow for future expansion, I doubt a landside/airside model would be practical given the runway locations.
I disagree that Terminal 2 adds to RDU’s legacy of missed opportunities, however, I feel that a bigger “opportunity” lies more in the future replacement/renovation plans of the existing Terminal A and how these plans compliment and engage the now-new Terminal 2.
PS - Love the site, surf here daily, keep up the good work!
October 13th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
RDU was once the single airport facility known now as Terminal B. In the late 70’s an airport hangar was designed and built next door. At the last minute it was repurposed as a new terminal: Terminal A. Departing and arriving passengers move on the same level, and bypassing traffic went left. Meanwhile, the rest of America was going with dedicated levels for arriving and departing.
In 1987 American Airlines opened their fifth US hub. The concourse was built too narrow to accommodate moving sidewalks commonly seen in competing airports. The runway was built too close to the terminal, thus locking the airport into a straight line concourse configuration.
A perimeter road was built encircling the new runway, however it was abandoned a few years later when I-540 was built.
Terminal A was later extended to the south and the north. After Southwest revived Terminal B (without renovation - including its 1975 baggage claim) travelers have, at times, had to walk the entire concourse length to get to baggage claim (the equivalent of walking halfway around the lagoon at Epcot, and longer than any of Atlanta’s concourses).
Two parking garages were built between the terminals. Because Terminal A was only built with one level of traffic, the deck could not sit close to the terminal, to make room for bypassing traffic.
The parking garages that were built in the late 80’s for Terminal C were quickly out of date, and could not be built upon, therefore the new parking garages had to sit on the other side of Terminal C from the decks.
And you don’t think there is a legacy of missed opportunities at RDU?
RDU isn’t “being Raleigh” with its overall design. It is being a poor-man’s version of Logan and Kennedy. Meanwhile the rest of the US is putting in componentized landside/airside designs where parts (such as security, baggage claim, concourses, etc) can be changed out without shutting down half of the airport.
Do you buy all-in-one inkjet/scanner/faxes? How about answering machines tied into the base of a phone? How about all-in-one TV/Home theater systems? If you do, then you are throwing away perfectly good components whenever the first one goes bad. This is exactly what RDU is setting up for itself. Terminal C needed improvements to security, and they could not pull it off without completely replacing the terminal. The concourse was completely adequate for current standards as was the baggage claim. $570 million dollars later, we still have an inefficient complex that really doesn’t allow the airport to do anything it couldn’t before, and doesn’t solve future growing problems.
Let’s go back 10 years. Build that central terminal where the decks are. Put the decks above the terminal. That way people park, take the elevator down to ticketing, ride up and escalator to a people mover, and arrive at a concourse pod that doesn’t require half a mile of walking. THAT is convenience. The only problem Tampa found with their design is that they didn’t build enough parking deck space.
If we had hub and spoke-styled landside/airside design, we could simply start building a new concourse building with 32 new gates while keeping the 26 in C functional. Once the 32 would open, they could move everyone out of A/B over to C while A/B is replaced. Once the new Terminal 1 is complete, you drop Terminal C and replace it with a design that meets current requirements.
RDU will continue to go on 20-25 year cycles of having to completely and painfully reinvent itself because it is not building toward an ideal setup. We’re not stuck in the 80’s. We’re stuck, like Boston and NYC, in the 1960’s.
Anyone know why the “new standard” for naming terminals is with numbers? If gates and parking areas are already numbered, it only adds to confusion to name buildings with numbers. That’s like going to an arena and saying you are in Section 107, Row 8, Seat 6 (…or was that row 6 and seat 8?) My seat in the airplane is Row 3 seat 2 (or is that Row 2, seat 3????) The point of numbering seats, rows, aisles is for them to be quickly identifiable. Using numbers only moves us away from that ultimate goal.
October 14th, 2008 at 9:38 am
This discussion makes my head hurt! We are so lucky to have an airport that serves us so close to town and RTP. Any improvement to what we have is o.k. with me. I have heard people discuss the thought of creating one super-airport in say Asheboro that serves Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem. If you feel that RDU is an opportunity lost then lets discuss the Super Regional Airport idea where all cities are served by one airport within 1.5 hours of approx 4 million people. This would save us taxpayers a tremendous amount of money and create tons of parking and rental car revenue since everybody would have to park and/or rent a car to get to their final destination.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Please, please, please tell me there is an exit from the customs area to the outside of the airport without going back through security. Having to return your checked bags after customs and waiting for them to be brought around to the normal baggage area is the most bass-ackwards things I’ve ever seen at an “international” airport.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Yes Jarrett, that problem has been resolved.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Jarrett,
The north end of the concourse has an escalator up to the hallway to customs. It is a long window-lined hallway overlooking the concourse floor, and has a travelator. Once through customs, people connecting to an outbound flight can take the elevator down to the concourse level, very close to it’s eventual midpoint. This is a nice piece of design.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am
The reason that Terminal C was replaced before Terminal A was is because the way Terminal C was designed. Terminal C was actually built by American Airlines as a hub. The baggage system, the IT infrastructure, and the building as a whole was only designed for American Airlines and not for multiple airlines at all. The only reason Midway was able to work out of there was because they also used SABRE for flight operations. When United moved over 4 years ago, great pains had to be taken to make sure their bags would be sorted by the same system. This is the reason why airlines could not move over before Terminal A could be renovated, and why they can be moved afterwards.
This terminal when done will have 32 gates, yes four more than the 26 that Terminal C has. Currently though United, Air Canada, American, and American Eagle are currently operating with a total of 12 gates since the other half of Terminal C has been demolished (Technically they have been operating with 12 in C since 2002). The four extra gates on the north end will house Delta. Most airlines have taken less gate space, probably due to the economy in general. In 2011 when all 32 gates are finished, this is how you move all airlines except Southwest, JetBlue, and AirTran over with gates for all.
Terminal 2 is completely designed in a Common Use environment. What this means is any airline can work any flight from any gate. When we have weather problems with flights cancelled or delayed the building, in a way, can be flexed to operate a Delta flight from an American Gate or vice versa. Technically there are no Delta gates or American Gates…they are just grouped together for operational ease. Remember the JetBlue problems a couple of years ago, or any other airline that has suffered a blunder of a flight waiting on the ground for hours and hours? This type of system virtually eliminates that kind of problem.
Customs and Immigration will finally work like a normal airport. The Terminal C setup was terrible and finally that won’t be a problem anymore. Also, Customs and Immigration will have their entire office over here. This hasn’t been the case for at least 5 years, and the problem is finally alleviated.
I really don’t get how this is a missed opportunity for RDU. This building will go a long way in the future in my opinion. It has been built with flexibility in mind. Some that most people will see and some that a lot of people won’t see until the day it’s actually needed. In a lot of ways we have to deal with the hand that was dealt with AA plowing through to make their terminal 20 years ago. I think we deal with it quite well.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Sounds like AW stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Well, it looks nice upstairs, and that’s about as far as it goes. Anybody that flew out the first week can tell you how much of a nightmare it was, from screens displaying wrong information, to the same flight being displayed on multiple gates, to employees having boarding issues because of computers terminating unexpectedly. Downstairs operations has been even tougher, with data inactive in most necessary locations, as well as phones operating intermittently, with nonexistent radio communication. At times I felt like this was the first time an airline had tried to operate at RDU before. RDU airport authority was TOTALLY unprepared for the airlines to move over, but shoved us over here anyway to adhere to the opening date which they’d already delayed several times over.
I could go on and on and on but I agree that outside of passenger comfort, not much else has improved.
December 7th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I think the bigger news about RDU is that Delta will fly non-stop to Paris starting June 2009. Forget the terminals, what matters more is where you can get from the airport.