I’ve flown in and out of a lot of airports, and DIA is actually one of the more pleasant airports (minus the extra bumps on the way up and down, I get motion sick!). However the security lines have gotten pretty rough lately. My sister was flying back to Philadelphia last month, and she waited almost an hour (with her three children!),which I wouldn’t have expected. But DIA’s Great Hall project was just approved last week, and there will be major changes coming!
I had the opportunity to hear DIA’s Chief Operating Officer, Ken Greene, speak about the new great hall renovation, and I have to say that I’m really excited! (To be clear, I’m excited for them to be done, not excited about the construction part, that’s going to be a bit of a pain!)
Here are a few facts about our airport:
- The airport is 22 years old
- It’s the 6th busiest in the US, 18th busiest in the world
- 58.3 million passengers passed through the airport in 2016
- 25 airlines fly in/out
- The airport has six runways, more than anyone else (but they’re old, and need to be constantly maintained)
One of the main reasons for this renovation is that the airport is 20 years old, but it’s also because the airport was built for 1/3 of people to begin or end their trips at the airport, with 2/3 of people travelling through. Now 2/3 of travelers begin or end their trips at DIA, and it wasn’t designed for that capacity. They only expect the number of passengers travelling through DIA to grow in the future.
The largest changes and renovation will be focused on security. The airport wasn’t designed to have security where it is now, and it’s just not a very secure place for that many people to be. So they’ll be moving security up to the top level (6th floor) where the ticketing counters are now. They currently have unused ticket counter space, so they’ll be consolidating all the ticket counters into hubs on the south side (and at some point will be implementing self bag check, which sounds awesome!). Once that consolidation has happened, they’ll have room on the north side to build the new security screening area. Currently there are 30 security lanes, and the new design will include 34 lanes. Which doesn’t seem like a big change, but the security lanes are being designed for speed - they’ll be able to screen 50% more people. The design will be a concept that hasn’t been seen in the U.S. yet, they’re modeling it after a very successful security design in Amsterdam’s airport.
One other big change is that a large portion of the great hall on the fifth floor (where security is now on the north side), will turn into a secured concession area for retail and restaurants. I’ve been in other airports with this concept and it’s so nice to have another secure option other than the terminals for retail and restaurants. It comes in handy when your flight is delayed! The design also includes plans for kids play areas, and an interactive floor that sounds really fun.
The south side of the 5th floor, where security currently is, will be renovated to create a community space that is not secured. They’d like this space to have a Union Station feel, and I think that sounds pretty cool! I hope they’ll focus on including mostly local restaurants, I love that Root Down is in Terminal C, and other options like that would be wonderful!
In addition to the major great hall renovations, they’ll also be building 26 new gates as an expansion to the existing terminals. They continue to see increased demand from airlines for new routes, and they’re finding it increasingly difficult to fit the flights into the gates they have. A new direct route to
Paris doesn’t do much good if they don’t have a gate to fly out of! The need is fairly immediate, so they’re currently building four temporary gates in the A terminal that will be able to handle the load until the new gates are compelte in three years.
I specifically asked him about changes they’ll be making with families in mind, and he said they worked really hard to understand the needs of families, and we’ll see those changes in the new facility. One improvementwe’ll see immediately is breastfeeding nooks in all terminals by the end of the year.
Other pieces of the capital plan include Pena renovations, curbside renovations for easier drop off and pickup, two new concourse trains, renovated bathrooms, a de-icing facility and renovated baggage systems.
So now that you’re excited about the changes, I’m sure you’re wondering when it will be done. The renovation project will start in the summer of 2018, the new TSA security screening area will open in Fall of 2020, and the remainder of construction will be complete in the fall of 2021.
Want to see it in action? Here’s a great 3D rendering video that will walk you through the space:
During the entire presentation, the passenger experience was emphasized. You can tell that they’ve really taken into consideration our experience as flyers, which I think is really wonderful. One great example of this already being executed is the abundance of outlets in the terminals. It’s so easy to find somewhere to plug in, and we’re spoiled, because I’ve looked at other airports and that’s just not an option! This year DIA was also voted as having the fastest Wifi in an airport, which is a big deal, and important to the travelers coming through. They were also voted as having the best snow program in the U.S. last year, which is an important factor when airlines decide where their routes will be based.
We all hope that we’re never stuck there for days, but if we are, it’s really good to know that they learned some things from the major snowstorm last March, when people were stranded for days. They have about 2,000 cots, blankets and pillows they can provide, but in March they realized quickly they didn’t have diapers and formula, and families hadn’t brought enough for that long of an airport stay. They were able to quickly fix the situation during the storm, but now they’re prepared to help families if that situation happens again.
Some passengers feel anxious or stressed during air travel, so to help keep a calm passenger experience they have the Canine Airport Squad, or CATS (a little ironic, yes!) These dogs shouldn’t be confused with the K9 units that are there to keep us safe, which they also have a lot of, and are hoping to have more of in the very near future! The CATS goal is to relieve stress and anxiety for passengers, which is amazing. We’ve never had the pleasure of running into any of the CATS, but now I’ll keep an eye out for them because my kids would love to meet them!
Pets are passengers too, and to help accommodate their passenger experience, pet relief areas have already been created in every concourse.
One new amenity coming with the renovation is a gym in the A terminal (not that any of us parents will get to put that to use when we’ve got our kids with us, but it’s a nice touch, and something we can use if there’s a delay when we’re flying kid free!)
There seems to have been quite a bit of controversy on this project, and I’ll admit that I’m not up to date on all of that conversation. But I do know that Ken Greene shared a lot of wonderful things about the renovation that made me really excited. I think the new renovation will be a great asset for our growing city, and I can’t wait until it’s done!
For more information, take a look at the recent Press Release: https://www.flydenver.com/sites/default/files/downloads/17-065%20Great%20Hall%20Approved.pdf
Security tip: If you’re looking for a speedy security experience, definitely sign up for TSA Precheck, it’s only $75 for five years, the kids can come through with you for free, and it’s super easy to sign up! Because the TSA precheck line can back up, we’ve occasionally signed up for special promotions with Clear when we know we’ll be travelling a lot over a few months, and it’s been really fast. The only problem is that they’re not in every airport, but they are growing quickly!
