On Tuesday American Airlines moved operations in San Francisco to the Harvey Milk Terminal, B side of terminal 1. This puts all of American Airlines in one terminal at the airport, instead of having the old US Airways gates a long walk away.
As American shared in an internal update to employees on Wednesday, “With this consolidation comes the ease of moving between gates freely without having to pass through security, a centralized location and new workspaces.” I’d add that it means not being surprised by a long walk from the Admirals Club.
Credit: American Airlines
Credit: American Airlines
The new ticket counter location is between doors 3 and 4 of the terminal. Their gates are B22 – B27, which despite the move doesn’t give them room for growth. (Although I’m not sure anyone is looking at much growth for awhile, so perhaps this proved prescient.)
The opening date for the new Admirals Club, across from gate B13, hasn’t yet been announced.
AA still sucks. The SFO Admirals Club is ok but it’s all downhill from there.
It’s not a long walk because the current Admirals Club is closed.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/airportAmenities/sfo-club.jsp
And if this is to be believed, the new one is done; it’s just not open yet.
https://www.flysfo.com/media/press-releases/american-airlines-moves-harvey-milk-terminal-1-may-12th
Shouldn’t the headline state American Airlines consolidates to one terminal in San Francisco?
Completing this during the pandemic is smart – very few passengers being disrupted by the changes
Agreed that this would be the best time to make changes like this. If the investment is already made (such as new seats for airplanes), then keep people working to make these kinds of changes.
Curious what the point of the first half of the headline was, as others have pointed out, consider that it’s immaterial to the content of the story. You could also start every one of your articles with “On planet Earth”; it would be just as true and add just as much.
C’mon Gary, we started reading you for a reason – hang in there. Don’t fall into the trap of the siren song of clickbait. You’re better than that.
Gary it is obvious that your intent is/was, for lack of a better word, malicious.
You lend yourself no credibility, not even a morsel of integrity with such a headline. When do you suggest would have been a better time to move terminals?
Of course it’s clear what his intent was. I think the title of the article should read “In the middle of a pandemic, Gary Leff is still writing articles”.
I don’t see anything wrong with the headline at all its accurate and relevant
You wonder is all the disruption worth it and the confusion that may come with it
Travelers not being aware of the changes ,a closed club etc
I’ve noticed people jumping down each others throats lately when they say just bout anything
Admire Gary for his incredible wisdom and knowledge but probably even more for his thick skin with some of his cranky readers/ posters.
This move was actually planned earlier as part of the opening of the second phase of the T1 opening, but was delayed due to COVID-19.
https://www.flysfo.com/media/press-releases/sfo-postpones-opening-next-phase-harvey-milk-terminal-1
@dwondermeant – all of the issues you mentioned will occur with or without a pandemic. In fact, one could argue that moving now is probably a better time to move since there is far less traffic, passengers, and flights.
What will become of the old AA lounge space? Will Alaska finally get a lounge at their SFO “hub”.
Click bate headline. American planned this before the pandemic and also the move was to consolidate into one main terminal that American is already in. Don’t put fake mews into an already factual story. What could have been added was who is moving to the gates being given up by American.
AA Admirals Club is planning to reopen. That’s great news. Recent Forbes article suggests that Airline lounges/clubs are done post Covid19. Thanks @Gary
TO ALL OF YOU WHO THINK THIS WAS “CLICKBAIT,” let me suggest the following…
I have lived in San Francisco or across the Bay in Berkeley for the past 30 years or so. I fly in and out of SFO’s T2 frequently — indeed, far more frequently than I fly out of OAK (Southwest); but *never* on AA¹ — and I’ve always viewed American as being the dominant airline in T2. In fact, until reading this article a) I had no idea that AA even had gates in T1 (Harvey Milk), and b) had no idea that USAir flew out of T1, nor that AA kept those gates and was actively using them.
I only know that Virgin America (VX) had a sizable presence in T2 and that, once Alaska (AS) took over VX, AS was running operations out of *both* T2 and the International Terminal.
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¹ My last flight on AA was in September of 2017, BUT it was from LAX to ABQ…and only because Alaska re-routed me on AA out of LAX when my SNA-ABQ flight was cancelled.
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@Gary — Does this mean that Alaska will be the sole tenant in T2, just like United is the only airline to operate out of T3? Or is another airline planing on moving into T2? Inquiring minds, and all that…
AA used Terminal 1b for short haul flights…SFO to LA etc.