Denver International Airport Finally Ready for Operations

DENVER _ It has been hailed as a technological marvel and derided as a civic booster's overpriced field of dreams. Whatever it is, the new Denver International Airport is set finally to begin operating Feb. 28 _ a year and a half behind schedule and at a cost of $4.2 billion, about twice the original estimate.

The first passenger flight, United 1062, will depart for Kansas City at 6 a.m. to inaugurate the architecturally striking terminal, which juts up from an otherwise empty prairie 23 miles east of Denver.

That departure will also mark the opening of the first major commercial airport built in the United States since the Dallas-Fort Worth field was completed 20 years ago.

Among the luminaries expected to attend the opening ceremony is Transportation Secretary Federico F. Pena, who as mayor of Denver a decade ago first proposed building the new airport. The current mayor, Wellington Webb, will preside at the ceremony.

Stapleton International Airport, the field that has served Denver since the barnstorming days of 1929 but which city officials have declared hopelessly outdated and congested, will cease operation a few hours before Flight 1062 lifts off.

Stapleton's terminal, hangars and runways, lying only a 10-minute ride from downtown and easily capable of being expanded and modernized in the judgment of the new airport's detractors, will be sold for conversion to office and residential development.

"This time we're really going to open DIA," said Stephanie Foote, chief of staff for Webb, alluding to four previous opening dates that had to be aborted because of construction problems.

"We've finally ironed out all of the bugs, and there won't be any more delays," Foote promised. "We've now got everything itemized and prioritized, right down to the paper in the restrooms."

The delays were forced mainly by embarrassing problems with the baggage handling system, designed to be the most advanced in aviation history. In early tests of the $193 million system, which features computer-controlled electronic baggage carts dashing to and fro on little tracks, some suitcases were crushed and ripped open while others ended up at the wrong plane gates or bag carousels.

Airport engineers say the system now works. But just in case, a conventional baggage system _ tugged carts, conveyor belts and looping carousels _ has been installed as a backup, at a cost of $50 million.

The opening of Denver International was originally scheduled for the fall of 1993. City officials had predicted that the 43,000-acre facility, with five 12,000-foot runways and a multipeaked terminal that resembles the snowcapped Rocky Mountains on the western horizon, would not only offer the easiest, safest and most efficient air travel anywhere but also give Denver a strong economic lift after years of recession.

The officials are still making that prediction.

"The boost always comes with big new airports, and Denver won't be an exception," said Dan Melfi, an airport spokesman. "People will be able to get in and out easier, and DIA also will be a magnet for office parks and manufacturing facilities on the outskirts. Trust me, Denver will take off too, economically, with the opening of DIA."

Some aviation experts have doubts.

They question whether passenger traffic through Denver, the world's eighth busiest air hub, will ever increase enough to justify the final price of the new airport.

They note that airlines have raised fares to help pay higher rents, landing fees and other costs at the new airport.

They also contend that the old airport, whose narrowly spaced runways were frequently tied up by snowstorms, could have been reconfigured and modernized at much less cost.

"There isn't any doubt that Denver International is one of the world's great airports, the most modern and efficient of all at this point," said Paul Dempsey, the director of the Transportation Law Program at Denver University and author of half a dozen books on the airline industry.

"But in retrospect," he said, "the city made a rush to judgment. It should have looked more closely at whether to dump Stapleton. Just over 32 million passengers fly in and out of Denver every year, and there really isn't much outlook for a big increase in that figure anytime soon, especially if fares keep going up. Another recession might even cause the figure to drop."

The critics also note, with special concern, that several federal, state and city agencies are investigating allegations concerning the airport's construction and the manner in which it was financed with bonds.

The agencies include the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Transportation, the office of the U.S. attorney in Denver, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the General Accounting Office and the Denver district attorney.

Investigators refuse to give details other than to say they are looking into the quality of the construction, the way in which contracts were let and the manner in which the bonds were sold.

Airport officials say they know of no wrongdoing.

"We don't believe there's anything bad out there," Melfi said. "Denver International is a great addition to our great city."

Copyright 1995
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