Getting airport flight terminal and gating info question

geepondy

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My non English speaking friend is flying on the first flight from here.

http://www.usairways.com/awa/flightinformation/FlightSchedule.aspx

I see from previewing the post, the correct flight listings are not being displayed but it doesn't matter you can use any as a sample. I thought you could and I want to get terminal and gate departure and arrivals from the flight numbers but it is not given under "view details". Do you know how from USairways web site how I could get that info? I want to print a map of the airport, notably the one in Phoenix where she has to transfer and point out where exactly she will be arriving and then departing.

If anybody has any insight on this I would appreciate it.
 

Brighteyez

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Gosh, of all the terminals she's going into the biggest terminal at Sky Harbor. I think US uses the A and B concourses in Terminal 4 along with America West. You might want to check the Phoenix city web sites to see if they have a layout of the terminal. Terminals all over the world are usually sequentially numbered by letter and number, so she might already be familiar with that if she has much time on airlines.

If her native language is a common one, the airline might be able to provide assistance with a native speaker employee. You will want to inform the airline that she is not an English speaker when you drop her off at the airport so that they can accommodate her.

EDIT found a Terminal 4 layout for you http://phoenix.gov/AVIATION/support_content/T4directoryweb.pdf

Also, with regards to the gate information, quite honestly it's not very accurate. In addition to any security concerns that the airline may have, gate assignments often change due to scheduling delays. I once walked from the far end of one concourse to catch the tram to go and walk down to the far end of another concourse at Hartsfield, sat down for no more than 30 seconds and found that my connector was going to be 2 gates from where I started. A colleague (whom I didn't know) who was headed to the same destination remarked "Oh yeah, I remember you in Atlanta, you had just gotten to the gate when they changed it and you muttered 'Aw $h!t'"
 
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geepondy

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Brighteyez, I meant to thank you earlier for the help. I believe she is arriving at Sky Harbor via America West which I gather is a subsidiary of USA Air and she is leaving via Mesa which they say is a subsidiary of USA Air as well. In either case, I assume she would be arriving and departing in either the A and B concourses? Do you think this is a correct assumption?

It doesn't look too horrible. I've only flown a half a dozen times or so in my complete 43 years but a connecting flight from Chicago was the worst. It felt like I had to travel a half marathon between terminals.

Brighteyez said:
Gosh, of all the terminals she's going into the biggest terminal at Sky Harbor. I think US uses the A and B concourses in Terminal 4 along with America West. You might want to check the Phoenix city web sites to see if they have a layout of the terminal. Terminals all over the world are usually sequentially numbered by letter and number, so she might already be familiar with that if she has much time on airlines.

If her native language is a common one, the airline might be able to provide assistance with a native speaker employee. You will want to inform the airline that she is not an English speaker when you drop her off at the airport so that they can accommodate her.

EDIT found a Terminal 4 layout for you http://phoenix.gov/AVIATION/support_content/T4directoryweb.pdf

Also, with regards to the gate information, quite honestly it's not very accurate. In addition to any security concerns that the airline may have, gate assignments often change due to scheduling delays. I once walked from the far end of one concourse to catch the tram to go and walk down to the far end of another concourse at Hartsfield, sat down for no more than 30 seconds and found that my connector was going to be 2 gates from where I started. A colleague (whom I didn't know) who was headed to the same destination remarked "Oh yeah, I remember you in Atlanta, you had just gotten to the gate when they changed it and you muttered 'Aw $h!t'"
 

Brighteyez

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Never assume with an airport. There could be circumstances that could even cause a change in terminals, though the individual airlines usually stay within the their allocated terminals and gates. America West, America West Express (Mesa), and US Air would however generally use Terminal 4. Last minute changes can cause the best laid plans to go awry, so the gates could change. As such, the gate number on her boarding passes could change between the time she leaves Logan and the time she arrives at Sky Harbor. Also be aware that there are two A and two B concoures depending upon the gate numbers. That having been said, none of the terminals at Sky Harbor compare to the large urban hubs; it shouldn't be that difficult. Also I only go through Terminal 4 occasionally if I end up on SouthWest; generally I'm on one of the airlines that use Terminal 3 which is pretty small relatively speaking.

O'Hare can indeed be intimidating, it's one of the largest airports in the country and was once the busiest airport in the country (Hartsfield in ATL was expanded to take some of the traffic back in the early 80's). On the other hand, one of the most arduous to navigate (just because of distance, 'dem Texans like to build 'em large :) ) is DFW. LAX is also a huge airport that can be very intimidating, though LA is a diverse community and if interpretive services are required for a non-English speaker, that can usually be accommodated.

You might want to make up a card (in English) for your friend indicating that she is a non-English speaker and also indicate the language(s) that she does speak, so that they don't have to guess at the language.

geepondy said:
In either case, I assume she would be arriving and departing in either the A and B concourses? Do you think this is a correct assumption?

It doesn't look too horrible. I've only flown a half a dozen times or so in my complete 43 years but a connecting flight from Chicago was the worst. It felt like I had to travel a half marathon between terminals.
 
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