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walkallover1991 t1_j2ff4zt wrote

Designating gates with alpha-numeric designations is best practice at airports worldwide.

The previous gate numbering system (only giving gates a number) was confusing to most travelers as it didn't designate which individual pier of the terminal the gate was located in. Adding a letter to the gate number (that corresponds to the concourse where the gate is located) makes much more sense from a wayfinding perspective.

Other airports in the US recently made similar changes within the last few years...SFO comes to mind.

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Maximum-Share-2835 OP t1_j2ffjc5 wrote

No, I get all that, my question is really about the redundancy, alpha numeric designations are partially very good because they allow for repeated usage of the numbers. So doing both seems unnecessary and I was wondering if there was a specific reason behind that

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walkallover1991 t1_j2fibl9 wrote

Probably because it's easier for everyone just to slap on letters to the existing gate numbers.

Keep in mind airport wayfinding isn't just about passengers, but ground/OPS staff and flight crews. Keeping the original numbers intact preserves a degree of familiarity.

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