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$1 Billion project for the soon-to-be biggest hub, for the biggest airline.
(Houston TX)Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport, will soon undergo vast changes as it prepares to be the biggest hub for the biggest airline in the world. (www.fly2houston.com) עוד...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Sounds like a lot of puff to me. Phase one to cost $161 million. No mention of future phase so that is way short of a billion. The seven to ten year construction depending on eco factors makes it sound as if this is a $161 million project with the future undetermined up to $1 billion.
Phase 1 is only a gate expansion. What this press release is saying is that they have approved a plan of multiple phases with an unconfirmed timeline. The total projected cost is $1 billion. This is common practice in construction...you can't "officially" approve a construction project until funding has been secured and escrow accounts are established. To this point, only Phase 1 has been fully funded. By the time Phase 1 is complete, more than likely Phase 2 will be underway.
I wonder who is going to be the loser in this deal. Will it be ORD, DEN, or SFO?
If demand and capacity doesn't change, I am not sure that there needs to be a loser. The big loser is the outdated terminals that are currently used at HOU. Nothing in this article says that flights are changing...only the airport infrastructure. (I am sure flights WILL change, as they always have with mergers, but that does not seem to be the topic of this article.)
My guess is that Denver's going to lose out. United employees here are talking about Denver transitioning from a hub to a line station. Another interesting tidbit - United issued new employee access badges with the Continental logo - and the corporate HQ is listed as Houston, not Elk Grove!