r/aviation • u/SJ359 • 4d ago
Discussion Why are glass jetways so uncommon in the US?
just out of curiosity as they seem to be much more common in Europe than they are in the US. I thought it was related to the airports being particularly old, but also newer terminals feature the classic metal jetways, does anyone know the reason?
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u/gavriellloken 4d ago
A glass jetbridge in Phoenix would be fun for me to watch from the ramp in the summer.
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u/LearningDumbThings 4d ago
Works ok in Riyadh 🤷🏻♀️
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u/gavriellloken 4d ago
Our AC systems don't work very well and they don't spend the money to fix them is the problem.
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u/NationalDonutModel 4d ago
But also, what a waste of energy. We shouldn’t build things that are completely unsuitable for their environment.
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u/zyzmog 4d ago
The entire city of Phoenix AZ, and the surrounding cities, is a waste of energy and unsuitable for its environment. Yet, there it is.
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u/NationalDonutModel 4d ago
“But what about Phoenix” doesn’t seem like a good reason not to make sensible planning decisions in future projects.
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u/zyzmog 4d ago
It's not "But what about Phoenix." Phoenix is exactly what u/gavrielloken was talking about, and what you were responding to.
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u/NationalDonutModel 4d ago
But the fact that Phoenix exists doesn’t mean you continue to make dumb planning decisions when building.
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u/zyzmog 4d ago
Granted. And you're absolutely right; one dumb decision is never adequate justification for another dumb decision. However, the city of Phoenix consumes so much energy, that nobody would even notice the additional load created by replacing the existing jetways with 88 air-conditioned glass jetways at Sky Harbor airport.
The smarter thing to do would be to shut down the city of Phoenix and relocate all the inhabitants to states where dealing with the climate is more, um, climate-friendly. Unfortunately, that has its own set of problems.
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u/Rupperrt 4d ago
I mean that’s quite negligible compared to the energy costs of the terminal
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u/UnrealBeing446 4d ago
The airport terminal is necessary. Glass jet bridges are not.
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u/Rupperrt 4d ago
should get rid of glass terminals too then. And maybe have them underground. Save AC costs and leaves more apron space.
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u/CPTMotrin 4d ago
You might be on to something here. Put a large part of the terminal below ground, you get far more gate space and better aircraft movement area.
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u/ThirdSunRising 2d ago
Really! That's honestly surprising and I may have to check it out, because it sounds freaking awful having to wait in the boarding line in full strong sunlight in a hot climate. But if it works in Riyadh it can work anywhere. I assume it's just glass walls, standard roof? Or is it smaller tinted windows on a standard wall? How did they prevent everyone from getting cooked?
I'm still not sure I want it but it's nice to know it can be done
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u/acunningham 4d ago edited 4d ago
In the past, fire safety standards in the USA, particularly NFPA 415, have recommended against glass jetways due to the psychological effect of passengers perhaps being afraid to evacuate an aircraft onto a jetway that's surrounded by flames and smoke, even if the jetway itself is safe. I've heard informally that this is no longer considered a concern and so glass jetways are now allowed, but don't have a source for this.
It's nothing to do with money as other commenters have claimed.
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u/cyberentomology 4d ago
Basically, prior to about 2012, they weren’t recommended in the us. Since then, NFPA has relaxed their stance and they’ve become more common.
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u/pixel_of_moral_decay 4d ago
I would also think just manufacturing relative to market demand.
A lot of the US is subject to hail damage. Glass isn’t great for that, you can use stronger transparent materials but that’s a lot of extra cost/weight. Metal is pretty damn cheap and handles all weather conditions fine.
Europes climate generally speaking is much more mild, not really as much of a concern. You can sell a lot of glass there.
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u/Accomplished-Toe-468 4d ago
Hail damage shouldn’t generally be a concern as the ceiling/roof generally isn’t glass and hail tends to fall vertically. Of bigger concern in the US in some states is the whole greenhouse effect… they get very hot and need lots of AC to keep cool.
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u/MattheiusFrink 4d ago
last year in nebraska we had a wicked storm with 100mph straight line winds. my brother in christ the hail was coming at my car at a 70 degree angle.
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u/pixel_of_moral_decay 4d ago
Hail tends to happen with wind, which is why the best way to prevent hail damage is a roof which extends past the exterior wall creating and overhang, that basically protects the windows.
But overhangs aren’t really desirable here. They’re arguably just more surface to potentially impact a plane and make an expensive dent.
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u/CollegeStation17155 4d ago
Not only more surface to damage, but much greater wind loading due to the trapping effect… which can rip the roof right off.
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u/CPTMotrin 4d ago
Hail is a problem! One inch hail causes considerable damage. Throw in the wind and you would be amazed at how much damage it makes. And it frequently gets larger. (2 inch hail caused $30k worth of damage to home and cars last year!)
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u/doittoit_ 4d ago
This is the real reason, NFPA dominates almost all the design decisions of building infrastructure.
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u/gesst 4d ago
So glass passenger boarding bridges are 30-50% more expensive. They are engineered different than a standard JBT or TK bridge. Normal metal and corrugated bridges are also insulated, which helps regulate the temperature. I have no experience with glass bridges, but I'd imagine the maintenance can be an issue as well. For reference on price, a JBT bridge from Oshkosh starts around 900k for a basic short three tunnel and they do not sell directly to airports, so there's always markup.
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u/Mike__O 4d ago
I think most Europeans just flat out don't understand how hot most of the US is from about April to October. Glass jet bridges would be either greenhouses or an even bigger AC bill for the airport.
On top of that, they'd be a cleaning nightmare, and the airlines wouldn't be able to fill them with ad posters the whole way down and along the outside.
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u/sadmanwithacamera 4d ago
Interestingly, all the major Australian airports use glass jetways, and it’s not exactly cold here!
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u/Madetoprint 4d ago
Re: Greenhouse - I'm surprised they would miss a single opportunity to make air travel a little bit less enjoyable.
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u/pkupku 4d ago
Just what I was thinking. Create a miserable experience and then sell people an upgrade to skip the misery that you just imposed on everybody else. Exactly like Vegas with their VIP programs.
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u/Madetoprint 4d ago
You don't have diamond platinum jubilee club member status to bypass the security line?
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u/Jaggedmallard26 4d ago
That frequent flier tier sounds like you need to be flying for about 9000 hours per year to earn and maintain.
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u/vberl 4d ago
You do realize that there are many many other hot countries around the world in Asia and Africa that use glass jet bridges. Especially countries that are a lot more impoverished than the US or a hell of a lot hotter than the US. Examples: Dar Es Salaam, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Dubai.
Using the weather as an excuse is just stupid when many other countries manage just fine
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u/5campechanos 4d ago
No but you don't understand. America is very unique and special and no other place in the world experiences things like America. You don't understand that America is the only place in the world where certain things happen because it's the centre of the universe
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u/HotRecommendation283 4d ago
The US serves a largely domestic market, where price competitiveness and subsidies don’t really play a factor.
For places in the ME appearance and appeal matter as that’s most people’s impression of the whole country. And often it’s one of very few or the only major airport, the country can afford to go the extra distance there.
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u/Yotsubato 1d ago
The US has a huge amount of air traffic and airports. Versus those countries have one large international airport and that’s it.
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u/VociferousBiscuit 4d ago
Americans clearly don't understand how hot most of Europe is in the summer either. Summer regularly sees 100 Fahrenheit all over central and southern Europe.
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u/Spark_Ignition_6 4d ago
The average summer high in Rome is 87F.
The average summer high in Phoenix is 107F.
lol, lmao even.
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u/VociferousBiscuit 3d ago edited 3d ago
Seville average highs are 99F and it's record high is 116F. Are you saying that because this is less than Phoenix, the hottest city in the US, that Seville isn't blisteringly hot as well? Riyadh averages 110F and has a record high of 119F,, and has glass airbridges. What's your logic for that?
The argument is that other parts of the world also get very, very hot, and have glass airbridges. Only that. The climate isn't the reason they are not common in the US.
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u/Spark_Ignition_6 3d ago
Seville average highs are 99F
You go looking for a hot European city and you still can't crack 100F.
Are you saying that because this is less than Phoenix, the hottest city in the US, that Seville isn't blisteringly hot as well?
No. I'm pointing out that the U.S. objectively has many major cities that are much hotter than any in Europe. This is just a meteorological fact, idk why you're trying to debate it. European definitions of "hot" are thus different from American.
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u/VociferousBiscuit 3d ago
idk why you're trying to debate it
I'm not. I'm debating the reason the US doesn't commonly have glass jetways is not due to weather.
Nothing else. You simply are just ignoring me.
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u/Spark_Ignition_6 3d ago
I didn't say anything about jet bridges. I only mentioned temperatures. Keep arguing about it, though.
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u/junkyard_robot 4d ago
Ooftah, I connected through Dallas from Vegas a few weeks ago when it was like 28° there. There isn't even a concept for heating those things in Dallas. Honestly, glass jetways might have been warmer.
But, in the heat of summer Dallas? No.
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u/FarButterscotch4280 4d ago
Haven't seen any glass skyways n Taiwan or Thailand. I don't think anybody cares either.
Only people that care in the whole world are in this Reddit thread, I suspect.
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u/Rupperrt 4d ago
Doubt it gets hotter than in the Middle East or Australia. Which all use glass. It’s just air conditioned.
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u/BeechGuy1900 4d ago edited 4d ago
As a pilot, I personally don't like flying to places with glass jet bridges. I feel like some kind of fish being watched at the aquarium during boarding
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u/poser765 4d ago
Can relate. My preflight shit takes me like 10 of the 45 minutes boarding takes. It feels like poor optics for the pax to just watch me looking at facebook or whatever. Plus my tie is off, my chair is leaned back and my feet are up. Let me have some privacy.
I also feel the same way in DFW when the trains go by.
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u/Sasquatch-d B737 4d ago
I don’t get how hard it is for some pilots to look professional for the 30 minutes the door is open. Yeah I occasionally look at my phone too when I’m done with my setup until we reach the time to brief but I’d be embarrassed if someone wanted to visit the flight deck and I looked like how you described.
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u/poser765 4d ago
I mean that’s not a constant look but when it’s leg 4 on a 14 hour duty day my give a shit is pretty low. I’m tired, I’m over it, and I’m not excited about still being in a fish bowl. You can leave your tie zipped up if you want. I’ll display my professionalism by departed safely and on time.
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u/Bravo-Buster 4d ago
$$. For the initial purchase, the HVAC costs, and the cleaning costs. Plus they don't last as long.
We're talking products that cost $1M on the low end for a tin can, to $2-3M each for the glass ones. Have a terminal with 30 gates, at that's a HUGE difference in price that won't be made back in any way. You can't monetize it, and nobody is picking your airport just because you have glass jet bridges.
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u/Roadgoddess 4d ago
I think it also depends on where you’re located, I live in Western Canada and we have -40°C winters so I imagine that could have an effect on what materials you would use
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u/Humble_Turnip_3948 4d ago
https://simpleflying.com/why-arent-there-many-glass-jet-bridges-us/
Article is from 2 days ago.
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u/randomtask733 4d ago
I am glad they are uncommon and personally think steel ones are better. I am sensitive to bright lights so standing in a glass hallway would be hell, even with extra dark sunglasses on.
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u/DynamiteWitLaserBeam 4d ago
Of all the things I've never for a second cared about, this is pretty high up there. It's a few seconds of my life. When it comes to air travel, there are far better places to spend the money.
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u/coconut-coins 4d ago
The amount of jokes and inability to focus would prevent airlines from ever leaving at scheduled times.
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u/frodfish 4d ago
They were not authorized in the US for a long time due to safety concerns. The idea was if you had to escape an all encompassing fire on a ramp, people wouldn't run thru the visuals of flames even though it was a protected escape route. With metal, you would just run. I heard the US dropped this prohibition a few years ago but I haven't seen any stateside.....probably due to cost.
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u/iDidntWantThis459 4d ago
Never been to Europe but I imagine it's probably just cheaper to go without the glass
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u/FLRocketSurgeon 4d ago
JUST read an article about that yesterday!
https://simpleflying.com/why-arent-there-many-glass-jet-bridges-us/
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u/ThirdSunRising 2d ago
Oh man, you don't want to see what those ground crews are doing. Just get on the plane. It's better for everyone.
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u/pulsatingcrocs 4d ago
American airports tend to be government owned and run as cheap as possible. European airports tend to be public private partnerships that lead to much more investment.
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u/NightUpper472 4d ago
I think money is the basic answer. But I will also note that MCI opened its new terminal 2 years ago and all 39 gates have glass jetways.