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Last year, United Airlines embarked on an ambitious project to gain a comprehensive understanding of its leased spaces at its Hub airports—ORD, EWR, LAX, SFO, IAD, DEN, and IAH. They turned to JWI to lead this System-Wide Hub Space Analysis Program. The goal? To inventory and analyze every inch of its terminal and off-terminal support facilities.
United’s expectations were clear: provide each Hub with a detailed overview of their facilities, create accurate Existing Conditions drawings for future projects, document their space with 360-degree photos, and develop an inventory database of every room, complete with key information like area, use, workgroup, and occupancy count.
JWI was hired and executed the project exceptionally, completing it in just nine months. JWI surveyed approximately 10,500 rooms and 11.3 million square feet of United Airlines leased space across seven Hub airports. This included terminals and off-terminal facilities like hangars, capturing details such as drawing accuracy, occupant count, department/workgroup, locker counts and locations, millwork and plumbing locations, hold room seating layouts, and 360-degree photos of each room.
Over 31,000 photos taken. More than 3,800 AutoCAD files created. Over 600 miles walked. 10,577 rooms surveyed. 11.3 million square feet inventoried.
JWI updated and created comprehensive interactive existing conditions drawing sets featuring updated architectural floor plans, rooms color-coded by department, and room identifiers, including department, room name, area (SF), and number of occupants. These documents were interactive, starting with an overall airport map for easy navigation, followed up with overall plans for each level of the building. The team also created duplicate sets without color coding for project planning purposes. Additionally, JWI provided a complete database listing every room with associated data and a library of 360-degree images organized by building, level, and room.
The project faced several challenges. JWI and United Airlines opted for 360-degree images over costly scanning equipment to save time and reduce survey and escort time. The team also dealt with outdated or non-existent as-built drawings, requiring JWI to sketch entire buildings from scratch. Despite these hurdles, United chose AutoCAD over Revit due to its wider use among end-users and the lack of complete Revit models at airports throughout the country.
In the end, JWI met their clients’ goal of completing all Hubs by the end of 2024, providing valuable information for United’s growth and success. United’s Director of Corporate Real Estate Design & Programs, Bryce Canary, applauded JWI’s work upon completion of the project:
“United Airlines Corporate Real Estate has never done this before, and our leadership team is incredibly impressed and appreciative. This work will unlock so many things for our department and company, and JWI’s deliverables have already become an invaluable tool to our teams across the country.”
To avoid another major facility inventory update, JWI is now working with United to create a library maintenance program for regular updates and occasional facility audits. This will ensure their records remain up-to-date and that another major update will not be required again.
From this project, JWI showcased the expertise and commitment needed to deliver high-quality results, setting a new standard for facility management and planning in the aviation industry.