St. Louis to Get a Makeover

Ah, St. Louis. In the 1980s TWA made it one of its hubs and became the airport's biggest carrier, but the operation has been cut down slowly ever since American acquired TWA in 2001. The next big cut comes on April 5, and after that American will serve less than ten nonstop destinations from the city, essentially making it a glorified spoke in American's system.

Transitioning from a hub is a painful process. There's a huge decrease in passengers, and therefore a proportional decrease in airport revenue. Plus, being a hub can be good for some passengers - having a hub carrier means there's service that the market doesn't demand on its own. Additional service from Southwest is filling the gap a bit, but that won't replace American's large cuts.

So the airport is getting creative. In 2007 the airport announced $105 million of improvements, but that budget has been cut to $70 million (of which $20 million has been spent). The airport will be closing off the B and D concourses - American was the primary user and the airport simply doesn't need the space at this time. So $50 million will be going to renovate the A and C concourses, which are some of the oldest and need the upgrade. Terminal E will continue operating as well, and since it's fairly new it doesn't need any renovations at this point.

Adjusting to life after being a hub isn't exactly a pleasant process, but St. Louis seems to be doing the best it can for its facility right now.

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