Executive Travel : Denver Airport: A Beauty With a Few Flaws

The boss is sending you to an important conference in Denver. Since it’s still ski season, naturally you consider taking a few extra days to hit the slopes.

But wait--isn’t that newfangled airport open? The one whose temperamental baggage system was flinging suitcases to kingdom come on national television? Dare you risk checking a bag, much less expensive skis?

Ron Rees, CEO of Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., gave the question only fleeting thought. He and his wife, Karen, checked their bags and skis last week for a business and pleasure trip to Aspen via Denver International Airport.

“I didn’t think they would let us check our bags if there was a problem,” Rees said as he relaxed in Continental Airlines’ mahogany-paneled President’s Club, one of the swankiest of airport lounges and one that is underused since the airline dramatically cut its Denver flight schedule.

“We did pack extra clothes in each other’s suitcases, just as insurance in case one of them got lost. But the bags and the skis made it just fine,” Rees said. “The airport is very user-friendly.”

After the first month of operation, experienced business travelers are giving Denver International rave reviews for its spacious, elegant appearance. But they rate it less highly in a few key areas.

For one thing, it takes considerably more time and money to get from this white-capped jewel on the wind-swept prairie to downtown Denver. The city is almost 30 miles--a $40 cab ride--away. The nearest hotels are around Stapleton Airport, about 17 miles away. Rental car companies have tacked on a $3 daily surcharge for service at the new airport.

“I’d give it an ‘A’ for aesthetics and a ‘C’ or ‘D’ for functionality,” said Palo Alto public relations consultant Peter Stevens, who used the airport this month.

Flying into Denver is also more expensive, as most airlines have increased their fares $20 each way to help defray significantly higher operating costs and other expenses connected with the airport. United Airlines, which has 70% of the flights at the facility, is paying $210 million annually to use the new airport. It paid about $40 million to operate at Stapleton.

Still, airline executives say fewer delays and the greater efficiency of the new airport--it has five runways and can accommodate three jet landings simultaneously in a zero-visibility snowstorm--will eventually result in cost savings compared to Stapleton. As for the distance and higher ground travel costs, frequent fliers point out that Denver International differs little from Los Angeles International, Chicago’s O’Hare, Dulles near Washington or New York’s John F. Kennedy.

Nonetheless, there have been complaints.

Shuttle trains linking concourse gates to the main terminal are often jammed during peak travel hours. A third car has been added to each train since the airport was opened Feb. 28, but congestion remains a problem.

Unfortunately, frustrated airline officials say, it will be many months before more cars are available. Meanwhile, some Denver-bound passengers have resorted to hopping trains headed a mile out to the farthest concourse, where they can then get a less crowded train going back through their original concourse and on to the terminal.

“You just have to be a little aggressive and get on the darn thing,” said John Philp, United’s director of public relations.

Finding the right baggage claim area is another common complaint. Lots of signs direct travelers to the general baggage claim area, but few designate which carousel belongs to which airline.

Perhaps because of the distance from hotel and convention facilities, many of the airlines are experiencing a run on private conference space in their members-only lounges.

“We’re getting secretaries calling for CEOs from all over the country, trying to book our conference rooms,” said a steward for United’s two Red Carpet Clubs at the airport.

Some of these business travelers are flying into Denver International just long enough to attend a meeting in a conference room--they rent for $35 to $50 an hour--then fly out again. Some executives ask why there are no hotels adjacent to the airport.

The answer lies in the two-year delay of the airport’s opening.

“It’s hard to bet a hotel on the come,” said United’s Philp. “Until you’ve got a fairly decent handle on how a new airport is going to operate, it’s hard to get the capital to build one.”

Now that the airport is open and appears to be running smoothly, several developers have announced plans in the last few weeks for nearby commercial enterprises, including hotels.

High-powered executives trying to work in another meeting on the fly aren’t the only ones who find the lounges of American, Delta, Continental and United inviting. Smokers, banned from other parts of the airport, are allowed to light up in special club rooms that have separate ventilation systems.

“People are walking in and buying memberships on the spot,” Philp said.

United, in particular, has tried to make its clubs more attractive to the Denver traveler. Instead of one Red Carpet Club, the airline built two, one on either side of its central B concourse, to ensure that frequent fliers, particularly business people on a tight schedule, would be close to their departure gates.

Bob Irlen, an aerospace project manager with TRW, decided to wait at his gate on United’s concourse for a return flight to Los Angeles last week, paperback in hand and carry-on bag at his feet.

“Actually, I like this place,” the Long Beach resident said. “It’s big and spread out, but you don’t have the same sense of masses of people swarming as you do at other major airports like LAX and Chicago. And everything was well marked.”

Since he didn’t check a bag and rented a car, Irlen bypassed some of the obstacles that troubled other passengers interviewed recently. But he did find himself a considerable distance from the business meetings he had to attend.

“Still, relatively speaking, coming from Los Angeles,” Irlen said, “it’s just not that far.”