40 minute layover doable in Charlotte??

[It'sWDW4me]

I'm looking at a flight from MCO with a layover in Charlotte, NC. Trouble is the layover is only 41 minutes. This is a USAir flight. From MCO-CLT, the plane is a larger 2-3-2 seats across plane. From CLT-ABE, the plane looks to be a small hop type plane - 18 rows of 4 seats across - operated as a "doing business as US Airways Express". We had a super short layover last year in Detroit in which we wound up running most of the way between terminals. Had they not held the flight for a few minutes, we would not have made it in time. This was NOT a fun way to end our vacation!

How big is the CLT airport? How long does it take to WALK between the farthest terminals? Is a 40 minute layover at CLT doable?

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I've been through CLT several times. It is not a tiny airport, but I doubt it's as large as LAX or O'Hare. I have had to not run, exactly, more like power walk to make connections from one US Airways flight to the next one with an hour layover between flights. That was partly because the first flight was a little late, and the second flight was boarding early.

IMO, 40 minutes is going to be cutting it close unless you're fortunate enough to be in the same terminal for both flights. Then again, after sitting on the plane, a little power walking may be just the thing you need... ;-)

Other people may have a totally different opinion, of course. I'm just speaking from my own experience there.

 

[DebbieB]

I'm looking at a flight from MCO with a layover in Charlotte, NC. Trouble is the layover is only 41 minutes. This is a USAir flight. From MCO-CLT, the plane is a larger 2-3-2 seats across plane. From CLT-ABE, the plane looks to be a small hop type plane - 18 rows of 4 seats across - operated as a "doing business as US Airways Express". We had a super short layover last year in Detroit in which we wound up running most of the way between terminals. Had they not held the flight for a few minutes, we would not have made it in time. This was NOT a fun way to end our vacation!

How big is the CLT airport? How long does it take to WALK between the farthest terminals? Is a 40 minute layover at CLT doable?

I've been through CLT a few times. The problem is the USAirways Express flight will likely be on concourse E, the large plane on B, C or D. E is a big hike. 40 minutes is cutting it really close, especially if it takes a long time to get off the first plane.

 

[Tropics]

I've been through CLT a few times. The problem is the USAirways Express flight will likely be on concourse E, the large plane on B, C or D. E is a big hike. 40 minutes is cutting it really close, especially if it takes a long time to get off the first plane.

That's been my experience as well. I'e also found that getting to a gate after landing at Charlotte can take a while as they aren't always well prepared, which can really cut into your layover time.

 

[disny_luvr]

I've been through CLT a few times. The problem is the USAirways Express flight will likely be on concourse E, the large plane on B, C or D. E is a big hike. 40 minutes is cutting it really close, especially if it takes a long time to get off the first plane.

I agree with this. I just had a connection in Charlotte on Sunday. The USAirways Express flight will definitely leave from concourse E and the other, bigger plane with come in at a different concourse. We had to sit and wait after landing to deplane. I think you may be pushing it too close. I can tell you that the couple sitting in front of me had a 38 mins. layover in Charlotte and they missed their connection because we didn't deplane right away (and we also left the airport we were coming from about 10 mins. late).

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Thanks for the replies. I had a feeling that 40 minutes just wouldn't do it - a delay by even 10 minutes could be enough for me to miss the connection. Too stressful. I think I'll take another flight. It's a bummer because the only other reasonably priced flight means that I'll have a 2 hour layover in Charlotte.

 

[DebbieB]

Thanks for the replies. I had a feeling that 40 minutes just wouldn't do it - a delay by even 10 minutes could be enough for me to miss the connection. Too stressful. I think I'll take another flight. It's a bummer because the only other reasonably priced flight means that I'll have a 2 hour layover in Charlotte.

They have a nice food court and also rocking chairs by the windows. I would take the 2 hours and plan to relax a little.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

As others have said, the regional jets almost exclusively use Terminal E and it's a quite a distance to the other terminals. Charlotte is a US Airways hub, so there are always flights going in and out and overall delays are not that frequent unless there is a heavy storm coming through or a result of other airports (especially true of the NE corridor airports).

Would I personally do a 40 minute connection in Charlotte, maybe, if I was alone and was flying out the AM, evenings or with family/others, probably not as the connection will be tight if there are delays or trouble with getting everyone rounded up.

As for the airport itself, we do have a nice airport but there is some construction still on going, but should be pretty invisible as most is external to the terminals.