By Eric Krell
Business travelers squinting out their plane window during final approach to Denver International Airport (DIA) may notice a mirage shimmering below them. The multipeaked roof of the airport's main terminal evokes many forms: the snowcapped peaks of the Rockies, Native American teepees that once dotted the plains, the canvas-topped covered wagons of pioneers, and the thunderheads that still rumble up and down the Front Range most summer afternoons.
The roof is a fitting symbol for an airport that offers much more than initially meets the road warrior's eye. A visually captivating squadron of paper airplanes suspended above the underground train station in the main terminal, for example, doubles as directional arrows that guide passengers up the escalator toward the baggage-claim area. That marriage of form and function — just one component of the airport's multimillion-dollar art collection (the largest in Colorado) — is embedded in most of DIA's design, systems, and, increasingly, retail offerings.
Excess Baggage
The airport's automated baggage system is one of the first topics that arise in any discussion of DIA. An early glitch in the system delayed the airport's opening, and questions about the system's reliability unfairly persist. Any DIA regular will dispel that misperception. The automated baggage system can deliver 34,000 pieces of luggage per hour. Plus, it looks really cool up close. Ninety thousand feet of track hold 4,000 buckets, which zip luggage to and from (in some cases) airplanes at a clip of 19 miles per hour. The track, suspended 15 feet above subterranean roadways populated by electric and natural-gas-powered carts and maintenance vehicles, calls to mind a scene from a James Bond or Austin Powers flick.
DIA's February 1995 opening makes it the newest airport in a major U.S. city. Located 23 miles (30 minutes by car) northeast of downtown Denver, the airport occupies 53 square miles — twice the size of Manhattan — of prairie. The city and county of Denver own and have profitably operated the airport since 1995. Portions of the vast property host 40 homes (most are leased), oil and natural gas pump-jacks, and crop space leased to millet and wheat farmers. Revenues from those ventures amount to $2 million annually.
In 2002, DIA ranked as the fifth busiest in the U.S., and the 10th busiest in the world. Time magazine last summer named DIA the country's best-run airport based on its post-9/11 security strategy (intense, but without inconveniencing travelers), high customer satisfaction rates, impressive delay statistics (the lowest rate in U.S., for the past four years), and economic self-sufficiency. Much of the success of those first three metrics stems from the airport's carefully executed design, elements of which enhance business travel to, from, and through DIA.
The layout of airport's five runways (a sixth is scheduled to be completed in September) and taxiways provide sufficient space between the three concourses for aircraft to push back from gates while other planes taxi. That reduces in-plane "gate waiting." The airfield configuration also allows for arrival-only and departure-only runways, which reduces instances of departing planes having to wait for arriving planes to touch down and taxi.
The airport also alleviates congestion by providing different drop-off and pick-up points so that passengers arriving in their own vehicles don't have to vie with commercial traffic for free curb space. Ski-area shuttles, taxis, limousines, and buses for rental cars and nearby hotels and cities deposit and collect passengers from the curb at Level 5 (the baggage-claim floor). Passengers arriving in private cars are dropped off at Level 6 (the ticketing-counter floor) and picked up from Level 4.
There are 13,000 covered parking spaces, and the most remote spot in these garages is less than a two-minute stroll from an airport entrance. At no charge, drivers can pick up and drop off their passengers waiting outside. A parking area just outside the airport's only entrance, to the west on Pe
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.