Finally: American Plans Flagship Lounge For Charlotte Airport!

Looks like AA is still committed to long haul international flying from CLT.

Crazy to think that such a small market could handle all those flights

Good news in concept, but I'm sure they'll find a way to muck it up. American seems to be perversely proud of having the nation's worst major hub in CLT. Connecting there is endlessly and deeply unpleasant. The lounge probably won't have a bathroom, or it will only be accessible from an internal stairwell, or it will be called Provisions by Flagship Lounge. Maybe all three - AA does love innovating around new ways to make Charlotte terrible!

Not a great airport to transit thru because of the lack of trains. You may have to walk loooooong distances to get to your gate.

Funnily enough the Delta area is actually quite nice in CLT.

I really disagree that CLT is the worst major connecting airport in the US. Their food and beverage is WAY above average. I think the options in the E concourse are super impressive when considering it is primarily used for regional flights. Most airports treat these concourses/zones as an after thought, I think CLT really invested in this area. Not to mention all the options you pass on your way to this area such as Shake Shack and the smoothie/acai bowl spot.

Yes the concourses are unbearably crowded, the end of the piers can feature five A321s all boarding at once (what in the world!). Personally I find longer walks between gates as refreshing after getting off a flight from Seattle, I know that's not the case for everyone. It is a far from ideal setup, but within the limitations they delivered to themselves I think they are making the best of it.

Hopefully the CLT is appropriate size. Nothing conveys "unpremium" than sitting in between a family and feeling like you're invading their family vacation because seating is so limited.

Hopefully the CLT is appropriate size. Nothing conveys "unpremium" than sitting in between a family and feeling like you're invading their family vacation because seating is so limited.

I will grant you that there are some decent food choices in CLT. It isn’t helpful when you have a 40-minute connection, a 15-minute walk to your new gate, and would need to wait 30 minutes in line to get something to go. I think if I worked at one of the food vendors there I’d wake up in cold sweats every morning thinking about the stress to come, and I’ve spent a good chunk of my life in foodservice.

I started by thinking About Damned Time, then I saw about the closing of a current club. So American thinks that the solution to vast overcrowding in their critical fortress hub is to close an existing lounge rather than adding another? Could these idiots statistically be any worse at managing an airline?

That admirals clubs are Charlotte are horrific. Thank god. Having said that - I've had amazing experiences with the ground team there. Sadly, I'm now over the idea of connecting as much. And CLT just isn't a city I'm going to be based in. So UA winning on their route network again.

I've flown transatlantic dozens of times from CLT, typically in the shoulder or off season. My flights, especially to/from LHR, have been consistently packed (sometimes 100% full). It's likely most of the passengers on these flights are connecting in Charlotte but there are plenty of local people on the flights too.

CLT is hardly a "small market". It's solidly a top 20 metro and continues growing quickly.

It definitely punches above its weight, but no one ever says that about hubs like SLC, which is actually smaller than CLT, and sees similar levels of service.

I was a day 1 believer. I've been saying it's only a matter of time for CLT to get a Flagship lounge.

It's one of the fastest growing markets in the US still, it's not to be ignored. It's crazy that CLT may get a Flagship lounge before ATL does.

As a Charlotte-based international flyer this is certainly welcome news and finally places CLT where it should be…on equal footing with other markets with fewer customers. AA is finally realizing the growth in the area (Charlotte plus those places that connect in at CLT) is worth the investment. Kudos to AA for stepping up. My only fear is that it will take years to complete and until the the paint is dry, economic uncertainty and other events could delay or cancel. I hope this moves quickly and I can soon be treated like an actual FLagship customer versus paying like one and being treated like a second-class citizen. I suspect the Delta lounge in Concourse A helped give the needed motivation to announce this for fear of defections.

40k sqft sounds pretty solid to me.

That's larger than Delta's JFK lounge, basically the largest in the US afaik.

Does this now make MCO the new king of major US airports with a complete lack of any premium lounges or any kind of premium experience at all?

I'd imagine that CLT acts to AA as ATL does to DL: a connecting hub for the enormous spread out population of the entire South and East Coast. So I wouldn't think of CLT's market as being Charlotte, or even just the state of North Carolina, but also everybody in TN, AA fliers in GA, SC, Kentucky, and some of the Virginias.

I'm a bit confused. You say early in the article that American is adding the Flagship Lounge "in addition to opening a new Admirals Club," but then later lament that ideally they would keep both the Flagship and their main Admirals Club open. So are they actually opening a new Admirals Club too after giving up their current main one?

why crazy? CLT is a bigger AA mkt than ATL

Wait, I thought American's advantage was its network!

Name a more inconvenient to transit, more uncomfortable US hub than CLT. Better Admiral's Clubs and a Flagship lounge are good move. Does not make up for the other shortcomings of CLT.

MCO is also the king of leisure, low yields, and LCCs.

Happy for AA to continue growing CLT! AA isn’t for me, though know plenty who enjoy AA and now with citi, we shall see more choosing AA potentially

I prefer United

I feel this way about Charlotte as a whole. Maybe it's the Triangle/Charlotte rivalry I learned in college. My friend put it well: "Charlotte is like if LinkedIn and HGTV collaborated to create a city."

DTW and DFW aren't great to transit through but at least you can get some great, cheap eats delivered to your hotel on an overnight.

@yolo For sure but considering Disney is still a destination for the richest and their kids globally, it's wild MCO doesn't have premium services.

(Disney stans kind of weird me out, especially the Fortune 500 CEO I met once who talked my ear off about EPCOT.)

American has been renovating their current primary Admirals Club so I’d be surprised if they abandon it.

No one airline has significant enough operations at MCO to open such a lounge.

As in ATL getting a Flagship lounge equivalent in a D1 lounge by Delta

Gotcha, Plaza Premium isn't a thing.

@Santos - A premium lounge at MCO won't bring in meaningful revenue premium to AA/DL/UA.
A premium lounge at hubs attracts both O/D passenger & connecting passengers that may otherwise be choose to fly a different airline via a different hub.

The Disney pax is going to pick the carrier that has the non-stop from their home airport to MCO.
Even the credit card companies have limited incentives in opening one. Chase opening a Sapphire Lounge in PHL could pull in new CSR customers from Philly and travelers connecting via PHL across the network. That business case is not as strong in MCO.

Based on reading these comments, Ben might want to write a fresh piece about best/worst domestic hubs. Personally, I consider CLT far from the bottom. Lounges aside, food options are ok here, the walks from gate to gate and concourse to concourse aren’t all that bad (I think PHL/ORD/MSP gate-to-gate experiences and distances are usually much worse). When I book travel, connecting hub is always a factor, and CLT is usually on my short list.

CLT is playing catch up in every aspect of infrastructure. 485 has been under construction for the past five years, housing infrastructure to support the housing construction is beyond current capacity, the airport continues to be under construction (for the past five years) and this additional lounge will only make the terminal another mess to deal with (that will take two plus years)

CLT is trying so hard to be a grown up city (like ATL) and fails miserably at each turn due to the NIMBY’S that live there and have won local government seats. They absolutely HATE & LOATHE the newcomers that are moving in and are not afraid to let the newcomers know that. CLT will forever be a wannabe player in trying to become relevant whether it’s growing this sad excuse for a hub or expanding as a city center. They just want to go back to the Old South in CLT.

But taxiing times are horrendous. The airport is poorly designed so often you will have to snake around the rest of the terminals to get to the runway, gets very congested.

So MCO isn’t a hub and doesn’t have major international service for AA, DL or UA (ok a bit of Delta) to justify them bringing a prem lounge beyond their standard clubs. But there is a lot of premium and international tourism so that Amex could open something? I guess the issue is the airport layout with all its satellites and Term C isn’t great for a single lounge location.

I guess the challenge and delay was there aren’t that many eligible Flagship flights departing CLT (yes there are connecting passenger that can use it) but most flights ex CLT are North American non Flagship.

Except: Athens*, Frankfurt, London (x3), Madrid, Munich, Paris*. * seasonal

Big investment for 6-8 daily eligible direct flights. Maybe looking at further expansion? Or it will be very small?

However maybe I will stop avoiding the CLT-LHR when it is built.

There’s not that many transatlantic flights for a major east coast hub. 6-8 daily flights across the Atlantic. And 3 of those to Heathrow and 1 to Madrid because of the oneworld hub feed on both ends.

More surprised at Frankfurt and Munich. Legacy from the US/LH Star partnership?

Typically airlines and lounges are managed by those who are from the old major markets and have a hard time realizing the world has changed and continue to change. People are moving...they are leaving the frozen tundra of the North and coming South. For CLT to wait so long for a Flagship lounge proves the point. No wonder Delta has been destroying AA for years. It is sad that Delta actually built a nice new lounge at CLT before AA could figure out their strategy to deal with their volume at CLT.

I've flown transatlantic dozens of times from CLT, typically in the shoulder or off season. My flights, especially to/from LHR, have been consistently packed (sometimes 100% full). It's likely most of the passengers on these flights are connecting in Charlotte but there are plenty of local people on the flights too.

CLT is hardly a "small market". It's solidly a top 20 metro and continues growing quickly.

It definitely punches above its weight, but no one ever says that about hubs like SLC, which is actually smaller than CLT, and sees similar levels of service.

There’s not that many transatlantic flights for a major east coast hub. 6-8 daily flights across the Atlantic. And 3 of those to Heathrow and 1 to Madrid because of the oneworld hub feed on both ends.

More surprised at Frankfurt and Munich. Legacy from the US/LH Star partnership?

I will grant you that there are some decent food choices in CLT. It isn’t helpful when you have a 40-minute connection, a 15-minute walk to your new gate, and would need to wait 30 minutes in line to get something to go. I think if I worked at one of the food vendors there I’d wake up in cold sweats every morning thinking about the stress to come, and I’ve spent a good chunk of my life in foodservice.

40k sqft sounds pretty solid to me.

That's larger than Delta's JFK lounge, basically the largest in the US afaik.

Wait, I thought American's advantage was its network!

why crazy? CLT is a bigger AA mkt than ATL

I guess the challenge and delay was there aren’t that many eligible Flagship flights departing CLT (yes there are connecting passenger that can use it) but most flights ex CLT are North American non Flagship.

Except: Athens*, Frankfurt, London (x3), Madrid, Munich, Paris*. * seasonal

Big investment for 6-8 daily eligible direct flights. Maybe looking at further expansion? Or it will be very small?

However maybe I will stop avoiding the CLT-LHR when it is built.

MCO is also the king of leisure, low yields, and LCCs.

I feel this way about Charlotte as a whole. Maybe it's the Triangle/Charlotte rivalry I learned in college. My friend put it well: "Charlotte is like if LinkedIn and HGTV collaborated to create a city."

DTW and DFW aren't great to transit through but at least you can get some great, cheap eats delivered to your hotel on an overnight.

But taxiing times are horrendous. The airport is poorly designed so often you will have to snake around the rest of the terminals to get to the runway, gets very congested.

Good point... I know that some people go to Bojangles just to get the gallon of sweet tea the sell behind security so they can bring it to their destination.

Interesting. Yes, but many are now saying that the north is becoming the new hotspot, as the climate bakes the Southside. Still, CLT was definitely a newly developed superhub for finance.