More Vegas flights propel Southwest into B gates

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Wednesday, July 20, 2005 | 10:48 a.m.

When Southwest Airlines pressed past 200 daily flights to and from McCarran International Airport this week, it also forced the airline to move into new territory -- the airport's B gates.

Southwest, the busiest passenger carrier at McCarran, has had a dominant presence at the C gates ever since several airlines moved out of the terminal when the D gates opened in 1998.

The Dallas-based airline says it uses 19 gates at McCarran to fly to 48 markets nonstop. When the airline added three flights to hit 201 daily at McCarran this week, it produced a logistical squeeze and pushed some of the airline's arrivals and departures to the B gates.

In addition to the entire C concourse, Southwest now uses gates B9 and B10 and may expand to B11 next fall.

The C gates also recently became home to a handful of flights by ATA Airlines, which is a code-share partner of Southwest.

"We've been trying to catch everybody affected to send them to the right place, but we have missed a few," said Ron Faulkner, station manager for Southwest at McCarran.

While Faulkner said having all flights arrive and leave from the C gates has been convenient for customers over the years, it also has resulted in many people automatically assuming that's where they need to go for their flights.

The problem is common for airlines that have a large presence at airports. American is spread out over multiple concourses in Dallas, United is spread out in Denver and America West and Southwest have used multiple areas in Phoenix.

At present, there are six Southwest flights that arrive and depart from the B area, but that is likely to jump in November when even more Southwest flights are scheduled there. That's when McCarran will eliminate another C gate to accommodate a construction project that should alleviate the problem -- a pedestrian bridge linking the B and C gates.

Problems could also get worse -- problems Southwest would enjoy having -- if it continues to expand. The airline hasn't announced any new growth initiatives for Las Vegas and is focusing its energy on its Chicago Midway Airport operation, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The airline also announced a new city, Fort Myers, Fla., earlier this month, but doesn't plan any nonstop flights to and from Las Vegas.

The airline got news Tuesday that could ultimately lead to more growth when Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said he would introduce legislation to repeal the Wright Amendment. That measure restricts flights to and from Dallas' Love Field, Southwest's home base. If legislation to repeal is approved, Southwest could add nonstop service between Dallas and Las Vegas.

The repeal of the Wright Amendment is by no means a slam dunk. Representatives of Southwest rival American Airlines and Dallas' dominant airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International, have vowed to fight any repeal of the legislation, which originally was drafted to encourage growth at Dallas-Fort Worth.

"The bill only responds to the intense lobbying effort of Southwest to change the rules that it once agreed should never be changed," said Will Ris, American's senior vice president of government affairs.

Occupying multiple terminals also is problematic for passengers that make connections on Southwest in Las Vegas, since the B and C gates have separate security checkpoints. But Southwest has arranged with McCarran to transport passengers making connections between concourses in a van. Passengers use a special door to go to the tarmac level, board a vehicle, then drive to a location at the other gates and then go back up to the planes.

Faulkner said he is encouraged that Randy Walker, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation, understands the problem and has promised to push the $35 million bridge project along quickly.

"It's supposed to take 18 months to complete, but he said he would try to accelerate it," Faulkner said.

Rosemary Vassiliadis, the department's deputy director, said Tuesday that the bridge project is in design and that construction is expected to begin by January.

The pedestrian bridge linking the two concourses also would benefit America West Airlines, which is experiencing the same growing pains with its night flights. Walker has said America West could use C gates at busy times in the evening.

Faulkner also said Tuesday during a Southwest employee celebration observing the 200-flight plateau that he doesn't expect the airline to make any new hires to accommodate the recent growth, noting that the local work force of 950 should be able to handle the additional flights.