Charlotte Douglas Begins Massive Improvement Project

Charlotte Douglas International Airport has always been a hub airport, first for Piedmont Airlines and then for US Airways.

But when US Airways was bought and merged into American Airlines practically six years ago this week, the North Carolina airport took off.

Now it is looking to launch the largest capital improvement project in the facility’s history, a $600 million plan to rebuild a terminal lobby originally built in 1982 for Piedmont, according to Forbes.

Charlotte Douglas processed 46.4 million passengers last year and is looking to finish this year with an 8 percent leap on that number. But the increased traffic through a main terminal that is now 37 years old and was originally built to handle about 6,000-7,000 passengers, is now processing almost 25,000 a day.

The domino effect has hit home, particularly in the airport’s longer security lines.

Aviation analyst Helane Becker is predicting Charlotte Douglas will grow almost 5 percent more in 2020, although she noted that “much of the growth depends on the entirely unpredictable date of the return of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX.”

Forbes noted that the growth at Charlotte Douglas has been so great that Wednesday, Dec. 18, will be the first time American Airlines will have 700 daily flights out of the Carolina hub.

“We desperately need to expand and modernize the front of the house,” Charlotte Douglas Aviation Director Brent Cagle said. “We wish it would go faster but we’re adding 200,000 square feet.”