Westword on DIA's Future

Westword publishes an occasional excellent long form feature article on the Denver Region's future. These discussions are packed with detailed information not available in other news outlets. The latest by Alan Prendergast, "DIA Dreams," is about the future plans for the Denver Region's main airport. For a link to the Westword take on the Union Station redevelopment see my previous blog entry on Joel Warner's outstanding 2008 story.

And the Winner Is....

......Republic Airways...and hopefully the Denver region if they move their HQ to Colorado.

Either way keeping another competing airline at DIA is great for Colorado.

United to Renew Denver to London Daily Flight

Thankfully, not all of the news out of DIA these days is about turbulence and retrenchment. United Airlines is planning to restart the Denver to London flight next spring.

Short Term Turbulence for DIA

Happy Halloween. It has been a truly ghoulish month for the economy.

(photo provided courtesy of Denver International Airport)

One of the central themes of this blog is that Denver International Airport (DIA) serves as a powerful economic engine for the Denver Region and Colorado. However, as jet fuel costs have increased, airlines have scaled back their flights and the U.S. macro economy declined, it has been a tough stretch for DIA and other airports around the country.

1) Frontier entered bankruptcy and reduced its flight schedule.

2) DIA's international ambitions have been curtailed, at least temporarily, as Lufthansa has ended its daily non-stop flight between Munich and Denver and United ends its daily non-stop service between Denver and London. British Airways will continue to fly the Denver to London route and Lufthansa will provide daily non-stop service between Denver and Frankfurt.

3) DIA has put its plans to expand Concourse C on hold in anticipation of declining flights and passengers as airlines cut back their routes. Additionally, the construction of an airport hotel will likely be delayed and/or scaled back.

Despite these developments, there are still reasons to be sanguine about the airport's prospects. First, DIA has achieved record monthly air volumes in 2008 including breaking the 5 million passengers per month threshold for the first time ever in July. Southwest continues to expand its flights at and destinations served from DIA. Also, to date, the airport has not lost any major hub carriers unlike some other airports around the country. Recently DIA's bond's have been given strong ratings indicating the airport is financially well positioned to weather the current turbulence.

In the long term, as the broader U.S. economy improves, I believe DIA will continue to be a powerful economic growth driver for the region and the airport will resume its upward financial and operational trajectory.

Best Foot Forward at DIA

At DIA they are doing a good job of putting Colorado's best foot forward for the Convention as detailed in yesterday's Post.

The Implications of Airline Turbulence for the Denver Regional Economy

When global companies make headquarters site selection decisions, access to transportation linkages is often a key factor.

"With customers and operations in all 50 U.S. states and 160 countries, air travel to and from Dallas will be more convenient, time efficient and cost effective. The DFW airport is the third largest in the U.S. and one of the top six in the world, offering daily nonstop service to 35 international and 133 U.S. destinations. Additionally, Dallas enjoys a second major airport; Love Field — the 50th largest U.S. airport — offers more than 160 nonstop flights daily.

Being headquartered near leading air transportation facilities is critical to global companies like AT&T as the airline industry continues to consolidate and reduce hubs and flights amid higher fuel prices and industry economic pressures."

AT&T Press Release Announcing the Relocation of their Corporate Headquarters from San Antonio to Dallas, June 27, 2008.

The press release above, shows that senior corporate decision-makers are keenly aware of the impending contraction of the airline industry in the face of high fuel prices and the economic slowdown. Decision-makers believe it is important to be located in a air hub city with multiple airline networks to avoid the risks and costs being in a city with "thin" or "shrinking" linkages to the global transportation network.

At first blush this portends well for Denver given the high traffic density at DIA. Denver is clearly better situated within the global airline network than the vast majority of cities around the country. A View of the Rockies believes that its hard to overstate DIA's importance to the economic health of the Denver Metro Region and that building the airport was a wise and necessary investment.

However, recent turbulence in the airline industry has left me wondering if DIA's relative status could be adversely impacted by airline contraction. The news that United has cut its routes and flights in Denver, including the highly prized Denver to London flight which began in March 2008 was probably inevitable given current economic conditions but also noteworthy. The Frontier bankruptcy and capacity reductions along with the Southwest expansion in Denver, raises the prospect that Southwest could replace Frontier as the second major airline in Denver. These factors got me thinking about a "terrible two-some" of events which, if they occurred jointly, could harm Denver's status as a major hub:

• United merges with Continental (or another major airline) or is forced into a dramatic restructuring and reduces flights dramatically in Denver to focus on other hubs.
• Frontier is forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a merger, eliminating the only major airline headquartered in Denver.

If these two events came to pass, it could raise the cost and reduce the convenience of air travel in Denver and drag down the regional economy. Even a short-term dislocation of traffic at DIA could prevent the region from attracting investment at a critical time and in key sectors with long-term consequences. For example, a major contraction at DIA could disrupt the emergence of the regional renewable energy cluster in Colorado, causing businesses to relocate to other parts of the country. Once you "lose" a cluster, its almost impossible to win it back.

In the long-term, DIA's location in the middle of the country, capacity and expandability and runway design should allow it to thrive as a key hub in the U.S. airline network. However, let's hope in the short-term we are able to avoid the "terrible two-some" listed above.

The "Ascent to Asia" Campaign

The Rocky Mountain News has an interesting article today about the "Ascent to Asia" marketing campaign launched recently to promote the establishment of a non-stop flight between Denver and Tokyo. A coalition of Denver officials and regional boosters are working to generate momentum for establishing a trans-pacific flight. As a marketing professional, I have to say the campaign slogan is catchy and the poster designed to promote the effort is quite beautiful. This is a critical undertaking for the economic competitiveness of the Denver metropolitan region and I applaud these outstanding efforts.

Previously I blogged about the new United flight from Denver to London in November 2007 and about Denver's relatively lower international air traffic in two parts on September 23, 2007 and September 5, 2007.

Poster image from www.rockymountainnews.com, photo by City of Denver; Business Groups.

The Aerotropolis and Global Competitiveness

Happy New Year.

I just spent 10 days in Metro Denver and really enjoyed the seasonal cheer and winter weather.

For my first blog entry in 2008, I wanted to provide a link to an article in Fast Company magazine from the July/August 2007 issue written by Greg Lindsay titled "Rise of the Aerotropolis" (www.fastcompany.com/magazine/107/aerotropolis.html ).

"In the relatively obscure world of urban planning, [John] Kasarda, a professor at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School, has made a name
for himself over the past decade with his radical (some might say bone-chilling)
vision of the future: Rather than banish airports to the edges of cities and
then do our best to avoid them, he argues, we should move them to the center and
build our cities around them. Kasarda's research has laid bare the invisible
plexus of air-cargo networks that have shrunk the globe (much as railroads did
for the American West). " (Lindsay, Fast Company).

The importance of Denver International Airport (DIA) to Metro Denver's global competitiveness is an ongoing theme of this blog so I found this article very interesting. Lindsay does a nice job of describing the myriad economic benefits that flow from airport connections. He also summarizes the development of multibillion dollar "airport cities" in places like Hong Kong, Beijing, Soul, Bangkok and Dubai, pointing out that, for the most part, U.S. metro areas have not made new investments on the scale of these Asian cities.

He briefly mentions the decommissioning of Denver's Stapleton Airport as an example of how local politics in the U.S. hinder the expansion of existing U.S. airport facilities. Of course, I think he is misses the more important point that the closure of Stapleton coincided with the launch of DIA (http://www.flydenver.com/) as one of the few new airports built from the ground up in North America in the last 20 years and one of the few airports in the U.S. with space for runway and terminal expansion. At 54 square miles, DIA covers more land area than all of Manhattan or the City and County of San Francisco.

After reading this article, I am even more convinced that the upcoming expansions at DIA (FasTracks commuter rail to the Union Station, a new terminal, on-site hotel, expanded gates and a commuter jet facility) mentioned in my blog from July 30, 2007 (http://aviewoftherockies.blogspot.com/2007/07/dia-expansion-fullfilling-vision.html) are critically important investments in Denver's international competitiveness.

Another interesting topic covered by Lindsay was the plans for expanding Detroit Metro Airport (http://www.metroairport.com/) into a fully fledged Aerotropolis. Detroit has thousands of acres of woods and greenfields surrounding the airport making it one of the few U.S. airports beside DIA with ample room for expansion. I wonder if the expansion of Metro Airport posses a long term competitive threat to DIA?

Finally, see Figure 1 below taken from the Fast Company website which shows Detroit, Memphis, Dallas-Fort Worth, Ontario and Denver airports as "planned" or "rudimentary" Aerotropolis facilities in the U.S.

Figure 1: "The Aerotropolis Goes Global" from Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/107/aerotropolis.html)

A Green Rail Platform Canopy for Union Station

This blog entry is a follow up to my most recent entry from November 25, 2007 on the proposed design changes to the Union Station transit hub (http://aviewoftherockies.blogspot.com/2007/11/big-changes-to-union-station-design.html).

The Friends of Union Station have released a good outline of the new proposed design of Union Station (www.friendsofunionstation.org/news) which I highly recommend interested parties review to better understand the revisions. [Update from December 9, 2007. For a set of drawings showing the new Union Station design see the presentation from the December 5 Union Station Advisory Committee meeting visit the following link: http://denverunionstation.org/pdfs/meetings/USAC_Presentation_120507.pdf)]

I am still assessing the pros and cons of this new design compared to other options and don't have much more to say about this topic yet.

However, assuming that the basic premise of the new design won't be changing, I think the above grade commuter rail and Amtrak station does present some interesting opportunities for creating a landmark canopy to cover the rail passenger platforms at Union Station.

One idea which I find appealing (which I first saw suggested in the skyscraper page forum http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=127820&page=11) is to follow the motif established by Denver International Airport's (DIA's) Jeppesen Terminal roof. Said to remind viewers of the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains, the translucent, teflon-coated fiberglass fabric covering at the airport has become emblematic of transportation in Colorado. Including this motif from DIA at Union Station will help to symbolically tie these two transportation hubs together just as they are physically being connected by the electric commuter rail FasTracks East Corridor. (http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/ec_1). Additionally, a white peaked roof with masts poking through could help tie Union Station to the surrounding Central Platte Valley and Highland neighborhoods by evoking the colors and lines used in the Millennium, Platte River and Highland pedestrian bridges.

The Union Station rail canopy should be designed to combine the DIA motif with green building features such as interspersed solar electric panels and a system for collecting and recycling rain water at Union Station. This combination would create a regional icon which embodies civic virtues like public transportation, commercial vitality, and environmentally sustainable economic development.


The photograph above of the roof of DIA used in this blog is from the DIA web site "photo provided courtesy of Denver International Airport." The photograph to the right of the Millennium Bridge is from the Wikepedia entry on the bridge.

United Announces Daily Denver to London Flight

After years of speculation, United has announced the launch of a daily non-stop flight between Denver and London starting March 30, 2008. This is great news on several fronts: it will keep competitive pressure on the existing British Airways Denver to London route, promote global economic and cultural linkages between Denver and other parts of the world, increase Metro Denver’s international competitiveness as a location for global corporate headquarters, provides evidence that recent “open skies” treaties negotiated between the United States and other nations are starting to remove regulatory barriers to expanding international flights and may be an indication that United is planning to expand Denver International Airport’s role as an international hub instead of just using DIA as its second largest domestic hub.

In blog entries from September 23, 2007 (http://aviewoftherockies.blogspot.com/2007/09/relatively-low-international-air.html ) and September 5, 2007 (http://aviewoftherockies.blogspot.com/2007/09/international-air-traffic-at-dia.html) I discussed the relatively low volume of international flights into and out of Denver International Airport She the following Denver Post story for additional details regarding this announcement ( http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_7345275 ).

Relatively Low International Air Traffic at DIA: Part II

In my September July 13th and September 5th blog entries I discussed the fact that Denver International Airport (DIA) (the 5th busiest airport in the U.S.) “punches above Metro Denver’s population weight” (the 19th largest consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA)) in the United States). However, in my September 5th entry I also pointed out that, domestically, DIA is the 4th busiest airport but for international passengers DIA “punches below Denver’s population weight” because it is only the 22nd busiest airport for international passenger originations. In this blog entry I explore the reasons underlying this dearth of international passengers at DIA.

To validate the data cited earlier on DIA international originations, I reviewed the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Tourism and Travel Industries (http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/ ) data on overseas visitors to select U.S. cities. This data is based on the Survey of International Air Travelers (In-Flight Survey) Program and the Visitor Arrivals Program (I-94 Form). According to this data, Denver is the 28th most popular City in the U.S. for international visitors.

I theorize that there are four primary interrelated factors which drive metro areas’ international air traffic density:
1) the location of metro areas within the United States relative to international destinations;
2) the absolute number of U.S. metro area residents with ethnic ties to overseas destinations;
3) the amount of international business linkages between overseas destinations and U.S. metro areas;
4) the amount of tourism between domestic metro areas and overseas destinations.

One of the reasons Denver ranks so high for domestic air traffic is because it is centrally located in the western United States between the large cities of the west coast and the mid-west making it an ideal domestic air hub. However, from an international air traffic perspective, hub cities in the United States tend to be located on the U.S. coasts, closes to the international destinations they serve as a hub for. For example, New York is a large hub for transatlantic European flights, Los Angeles for transpacific destinations and Miami for flights to Latin America, the Caribbean and South America.

Additionally, cities with large absolute numbers of ethnic residents with strong ties back to ancestral homelands have a ready made demand for direct international flights and are likely to have high international flight densities. The City of Denver which is a reasonable proxy for the Metro Denver area as a whole, has the 24th highest percent of foreign born population among U.S. cities. See Table 1 below.

Given that the Denver Metro Area is the 19th largest area in overall population, Denver does not have a large absolute number of foreign born residents driving demand for international flights compared to larger metro areas with higher percentages of foreign born populations.

Table 1: Large Cities Ranked by Percent of Foreign-Born Population in 2002



(Source: http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/foreignborn.htm)

Another key factor in driving international air traffic to U.S. metro areas is international business linkages between overseas destinations and U.S. metro areas. For example, New York City’s status as a global financial capital clearly drives demand for international air flights to and from New York. One possible proxy for measuring international business linkages is the size and number of multi-national corporations with headquarters located in an area. The State of Colorado is ranked 13th highest among the states in terms of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the state (most of the Fortune 500 companies in Colorado are in the Denver Metro Area).

Table 2: States Ranked by Number of Fortune 500 Headquarters in 2007



(Source: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/states/CA.html )

Although I have not found good hard data on Denver’s ranking as an international tourist destination compared to other U.S. metro areas, some broad conclusions can be drawn. With its ski industry and year round alpine recreation amenities, Metro Denver and Colorado have a substantial tourism industry. However, Metro Denver is not as big a draw as coastal metro areas in states like California, New York, Florida, and Massachusetts.

Given, Denver’s land locked geographic position in the Western United States, its relatively low absolute number of foreign born residents compared to larger cities and other factors cited above, it is not too surprising that Denver has a relatively low density of international air traffic. There is probably not a “magic bullet” for Denver to rapidly increase the number of international destinations that are served by DIA. Instead, over time, as the Denver economy grows and develops additional international linkages I predict there will be a slow but steady incremental gain in international air traffic ultimately resulting in direct international flights between Denver and the Pacific Rim and additional cities around the world.

If I am missing any of the key reasons for DIA’s relatively low international flight density please send me a comment or email.

Relatively Low International Air Traffic at DIA

Denver International Airport (DIA) was the 5th busiest airport in the United States in 2006 based on the number of passengers on non-stop flight segments originating in Denver per data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (http://www.transtats.bts.gov/).

Total Passengers on Non-Stop Flights in 2006

by Originating U.S. Airport

However, as I have flown in and out of Denver over the years, I have always noticed how relatively few international flights DIA has compared to other large airports in the United States. According to the DIA website 18 international cities can be reached from DIA via non-stop flights including London, England, Frankfurt and Munich, Germany and numerous cities in Canada and Mexico. (see http://www.flydenver.com/diabiz/info/research/faqs.asp for the complete list). The Munich flight was just launched in March of 2007. Denver is working to initiate direct flight services to Tokyo and Beijing in Asia.

When you look at the BTS data, it turns out that although Denver is the 5th busiest overall airport in the United States and the 4th busiest airport in terms of originating domestic non-stop passengers, it is only the 22nd busiest airport in the United States in terms of originating passengers on international flights.

Domestic Passengers on Non-Stop Flights in 2006

by Originating U.S. Airport

International Passengers on Non-Stop Flights in 2006

by Originating U.S. Airport

Per the two tables immediately above, there is clearly a large drop off from being the 4th busiest airport in terms of domestic non-stop passengers to being only 22nd busiest for international passengers. This large disparity between international and domestic air traffic densities at DIA merits analysis and discussion which I plan to provide in a future blog entry.

Denver’s Train to Plane: Lessons Learned from Personal Experience and Other Transit Agencies.

As part of the FasTracks rapid transit build out, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) is designing the East Corridor from Union Station to Denver International Airport (DIA) (http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/ec_1 ). RTD has announced that this Corridor will be built with electric commuter rail technology and it is targeted for construction between 2011 and 2014 with the rail system becoming operational in 2015. This line has the potential to dramatically improve transportation to/from DIA, reduce road congestion and provide a reliable way to get to/from the airport in adverse conditions.

However, for this transit option to fulfill its full promise, RTD must design the corridor with the needs of air travelers clearly in mind and should pay attention to the lessons learned from other transit systems. Even small considerations and amenities can substantially improve the overall experience and increase ridership particularly given the stressful nature of air travel today.

I have the following suggestions: provide a “one seat ride” between Union Station and DIA (i.e. not requiring any transfers from the commuter rail to an airport people mover train or buses to reach the airport terminal); make sure the DIA rail station connection to the airport terminals is convenient to air travelers; configure the rail car interiors and station platforms to accommodate passenger luggage; provide paid long term parking capacity on the East Corridor and at stations throughout the FasTracks system and ensure that the facilities at Denver Union Station promote smooth intermodal connections between the East Corridor and other transportation methods.

To my knowledge RTD and DIA have not released detailed design information for the DIA rail station but RTD has posted a rough schematic that shows the proposed DIA rail station will be located underground, on Level One, below a proposed future DIA terminal to be constructed south of and across 84th Avenue from the current Jeppesen Terminal. The new terminal will provide additional departing passenger ticket counters(http://eastcorridor.com/meetingminutes/CorMtng11-8_9-06/CorMtng_11-8_9-06_StationRecom-DIA.pdf).

RTD explains that further detail is not offered in its proposal because

“[s]tation location characteristics for DIA are not evaluated as part of the [East Line Environmental Impact Statement] EIS because it is being done as part of the DIA expansion project.”

In the recently released Preliminary Official Statement Dated July 25, 2007 for DIA Airport System Revenue Bonds, the airport also reveals some information about its rail station plans (http://www.flydenver.com/diabiz/stats/financials/reports/bonds_2007ABC.pdf).

“The airport plans to spend slightly more than $26 million on “Train System Projects” between 2008 and 2013….The 2008-2013 Capital Program also includes a terminal complex project that will provide access from a new rail station to be constructed by the Regional Transportation District...to the Airport terminal. RTD…is currently in the environmental processing and preliminary engineering phases of providing commuter rail service from Denver Union Station…to the Airport….RTD is planning to fund, design, build and operate a rail line to the Airport, as well as station platforms and other rail transit amenities at the Airport Station. The City…is planning to design, build and operate the rail station facilities required to provide access from the rail station to the terminal building including the elevators, escalators, baggage checking and security requirements necessary to accomplish this access.”

So between the information from RTD and DIA provided above, it appears the current design proposal will meet the “one seat ride” criteria unless passengers going to Jeppesen Terminal are required to board a people mover train which seems unlikely based on the information in the bond statement. The design of the connection between the airport rail station and the new airport terminal and the Jeppesen Terminal should facilitate easy pedestrian access. For example moving walkways, ramps, escalators and elevators could be employed.

I have found the connection between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) heavy rail transit system, to be very convenient and easy to use. It’s a short walk from baggage claim or the ticket counters to the MARTA trains. This contrasts with the less convenient connection between San Francisco International Airport and the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) trains which requires use of an escalator and the airport people mover train to connect between BART and the domestic terminals at San Francisco International Airport. Additionally, the airport rail links to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, Newark-Liberty Airport in New Jersey and Logan Airport in Boston are also inconvenient because they require transfers from the mass transit system to an airport-based transit mode before connecting passengers to the airport terminal.

The rail cars on the East Corridor should be designed to accommodate luggage with luggage racks and floor space suitable for larger luggage. Additionally, East Corridor rail stations should have ramps and elevators leading to elevated platforms so that passengers can easily get their luggage from the street level onto the rail cars without ever climbing up any steps. Union Station itself should be designed to provide quick, easy connections between different transportation modes including light rail, commuter rail, buses and other modes.

Finally an important amenity which can be used to attract riders to the FasTracks airport rail link is to offer paid long term parking at rail stops. RTD is planning to have more than 3,000 parking spots at four different park and ride stations on the East Corridor. (see http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/media/maps/index.html for details). I am not sure how many, if any spaces, will be available for long-term, overnight use by air passengers. Obviously priority should be given to daily users who park at the stations during work-day commutes. However, in the context of appropriate land use considerations, RTD should provide long-term parking spaces to attract airport passengers.

The BART connection to San Francisco International Airport has not met its ridership expectations since its opening in 2003. However, the system is now offering long term parking at stations near the airport in an effort to increase ridership. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/13/BAG5CR00AJ1.DTL&hw=BART+SFO+Parking&sn=008&sc=497) . RTD should follow this idea and provide paid long-term parking spaces on FasTracks at East Corridor stations and stations on other connecting corridors where feasible.

The Denver Metro Area will maximize the benefits from the East Corridor as long as common sense design decisions are made which provide a comfortable and convenient experience to air travelers.

All images in this blog entry are from the RTD FasTracks web site http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/ except images of the Plane taking off and the DIA terminal which are Courtesy of Denver International Airport http://www.flydenver.com/.

The DIA Expansion: Fullfilling the Vision

There was great news today for Metro Denver economic development wonks. Jeff Leib’s article in the Denver Post, “$1.2 billion makeover for DIA” (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_6496074 ), explains that Denver is issuing municipal revenue bonds to pay for major airport expansion items such as new gates, a commuter jet terminal, a new automated baggage system (sound familiar?), the FasTracks commuter rail station at DIA, and additional parking facilities. I plan to devote a future blog about design considerations for Denver’s “Train to Plane” rail connection.

DIA is expanding its facilities and infrastructure to accommodate increasing traffic. This is an important milestone in the history of aviation in Denver. DIA was envisioned as an economic development engine for Denver in much the same way as DFW airport is for the Dallas Metro Area. Building DIA was always a strategically sound idea based on the fact that Denver’s location, between the population centers on the West Coast and the Midwest, makes it a natural transportation hub (see my blog from July 13, 2007, “Spatial Isolation and Punching Above Denver’s (Population) Weight”) . Denver needed an airport farther away from the urban core of the city with room to expand as traffic increased and with space for appropriately sized and configured runways to handle weather related challenges in Denver. DIA is one of the few major airports in the country with plenty of room to expand its facilities and with flight paths into and out of the airport over relatively sparsely populated land. I personally fly Jet Blue out of John F. Kennedy Airport in New York regularly and as Jet Blue has grown and expanded, the airspace around JFK has gotten so congested that flights regularly suffer from serious delays. This summer in particular has been a nightmare. Reducing this congestion will be a really hard thing to do for JFK and most other large airports in the United States because they can’t expand the same way DIA can.

DIA suffered a number of set backs early in its history including the abandonment of the Denver hub by Continental Airlines and problems getting the first attempt at an automated baggage system running. Just as air travel industry was hitting stride in Denver, the events of 911 and the resulting airline financial problems sent the whole industry into a downward economic trajectory. However, Denver’s natural strategic advantages as an air transportation hub have allowed DIA to steadily build into a powerhouse as United Airlines retained Denver as a hub, Frontier Airlines was launched from a base at DIA and has expanded tremendously and more recently as South West Airlines has aggressively entered the market. The airline industry will always have cyclical ups and downs and Denver needs to be prepared for the downturn which will eventually follow today’s boom in travel, but DIA is positioned to play an increasingly prominent role in the national air transport system and to help drive the Denver Metro Area’s economic growth.

Photos provided courtesy of Denver International Airport.