OK, so here is the first sentence of the Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter’s lead story yesterday: “One of the most positive things you can say about air travel out of Charlotte this summer is at least we’re not Atlanta.”
Yet another reason it’s a good thing we’re not Atlanta, I guess.
Charlotte Douglas managed to avoid the worst during the massive tech outage last week that grounded flights around the world. But delays persisted for days afterward.
Joining me now to talk more about air travel for the rest of the summer and other business stories is the Ledger’s Tony Mecia for our segment BizWorthy.
Marshall Terry: How does this latest snafu fit into the picture of growth at Charlotte’s airport? Business leaders consistently say the mega-hub is one of the city’s top assets, but are there any concerns that CLT might be getting, well, too crowded and inconvenient?
Tony Mecia: Well, Marshall, it's definitely growing. You know, the airport officials are expecting a record summer in terms of passengers, and you can certainly kind of feel that. It is a good question. If Charlotte’s airport is viewed as a big asset because it is so convenient, and there are a number of nonstop flights that you can get to from Charlotte. If that convenience is strained, does that pose a problem, I think, is what you’re asking.
And I haven't heard any rumblings to that point, Charlotte’s airport has always been a little bit smaller. We've always been kind of overserved in terms of air service for a city our size. And so, as the airport expands and there's construction — which a lot of people find inconvenient — and as more people fly through the airport and leave from the airport, it's definitely a problem.
It's not as comfortable, maybe, as it used to be, but I think the question is compared to what? I mean, a lot of big city airports are not relaxing and pleasurable experiences.
Terry: Charlotte Douglas has said it expects a record number of fliers this summer. Should travelers expect more of these delays?
Mecia: I would not be surprised to see more of these delays. And even if it's not a tech meltdown, you have thunderstorms coming in this time of year just about every night. That delays a lot of flights. You know, the airport officials say show up to the airport early, check your flight before you leave home to make sure it's on time. I would say, also if you can avoid changing planes somewhere to do that — because if you're delayed, then you miss your flight. It creates a whole bunch of headaches.
Terry: On to SouthPark now, where a developer has submitted plans for a big development on 16 acres. Where exactly? And what are the plans?
Mecia: On Rexford Road, sort of near the mall, there's currently an old office building there called the Esplanade. Developer Childress Klein has put in plans to redevelop that with 675 housing units and a new 200,000-square-foot office building — although part of the office building could be converted to an additional 300,000 units. So you're potentially talking about nearly 1,000 apartments there.
It does back up against a neighborhood that is in the Barclay Downs neighborhood. Residents there objected to a similarly sized development a couple of years ago. It's been interesting to see, sort of, how this plays out.
Terry: Let’s end this week on the latest from your “You Ask, We Answer” column, in which someone asked about a billboard on I-85 near uptown advertising ice cream with some risqué language on it. What did you find?
Mecia: We tried to answer a question from a reader who noticed that there is a billboard on I-85 near Brookshire Boulevard for Nick's Swedish-Style Light Ice Cream that includes the phrase ‘Lick me ‘til ice cream,’ and they were wondering: How does that get approved? We talked to NCDOT; the government does not approve language on billboards, these are privately owned. NCDOT does regulate the size of billboards.
We talked to a representative from Nick’s Ice Cream. She said that it's a fun tagline, that it's popular with customers, and that they sell a lot of merchandise, actually, with that slogan. I would also note that this brand of ice cream has another tagline that goes ‘Have you ever spooned a Swede?’ Apparently referring to more than just ice cream, Marshall.
Terry: All right, well that's a topic for another day. Thanks, Tony.
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