United Airlines has now moved all flight operations from the Terminal A facility to Terminal C at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport IHA, putting them in closer proximity to their Star Alliance partner, Continental Airlines.
“This is one of those moves that makes perfect sense from an operational standpoint,” says Ian Wadsworth, chief commercial officer for the Houston Airport System (HAS). “The Star Alliance has the two airlines working closely together and now the logistics are going to reflect that partnership.”
This accessibility is especially important for those passengers who are following a Star Alliance itinerary which calls for them to not only switch planes in Houston, but also switch airlines.
In the past, those passengers had to leave the secured side of Terminal A, then make their way over to Terminal C before proceeding through another security checkpoint in order to reach their second aircraft.
Now that the two airlines are operating in the same terminal, those passengers can simply walk from one gate to another, within the same building.
It’s a layout which offers greater convenience for United Airlines’ customers, but making sure that those customers are aware of the move prior to their arrival can be a challenge.
That’s why the airlines involved and members of the Houston Airport System have been meeting together for several weeks, in an effort to ensure that customers know exactly where the new amenities will be located.
The outreach effort has involved dozens of signs installed at key locations, alerting customers to the fact that ticket counters, baggage claim offices, and the planes themselves have all been moved to the new location at Terminal C.
The move also required a tremendous amount of cooperation between the airlines, HAS staff and federal agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
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