Denver airport has great connectivity, tons of gates and big terminals. There’s a lot of competition, though United is increasingly vanquishing Southwest there. Frontier helps keep fares down to some destinations at certain times of day.
Because the airport’s footprint is so large, it can expand runways, ramps, terminal space etc. And there’s plenty of clubs! They have American and Denver clubs, 3 large United Clubs plus the Club Fly minimart concept. And there’s both an American Express and Capital One lounge. (They lack for Chase and Priority Pass lounges, however.)
I like connecting in Denver. I hate flying in and out of Denver. The airport is nowhere near the city. Even with recent changes, TSA can be a terrible mess – one of the worst in the country. Gates aren’t walkable from the central terminal, and the train you’re forced to take breaks down regularly.
DEN trains down again. TSA not sending any more passengers down to the platform, due to crowding. pic.twitter.com/s6tM9XU21y
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) October 16, 2025
This was a badly designed airport that was a white elephant from the start, and it’s poorly run. Despite long-term known issues with the train they just can’t seem to make it better. Earlier this week, the car ran with its doors open and passengers inches from the edge between the main terminal and A concourse.
The airport blamed a passenger for this, but the train is built so that it shouldn’t be possible and the fail safes… failed.
@keelyhanson306 For licensing or usage, contact licensing at viralhog.com. Just cruising on the train with the doors open#denverinternationalairport #osha ♬ original sound
Train malfunctins date back to the opening of the airport 29 years ago, with multiple interruptions over the early weeks of the airport. In 1998 A loose train wheel damaged a routing cable in the tunnel, cutting power and causing a 7-hour outage with 30% of United’s flights affected.
More recently, a deflated tire and failed wheel hub caused the car to drop and drag on the track, damaging the power rail with passengers off-loaded into the tunnels and a damaged switch plate on the running surface between B and C forced one-track operations and alternating directions, causing delays.
But it’s not just the train. The airport’s opening was delayed 16 months and an extra $1.3 billion in costs incurred because the automated baggage system suffered mechanical and software failures and was largely abandoned in favor of manual systems.
The current Great Hall terminal renovation project has been in turmoil since 2017. The contract for it was terminated in 2019. Audits showed mismanagement and poor project management exploding the scope. Poor management is a frequent theme at the airport, not to mention ethics challenges.
The head of Denver International Airport is Phillip A. Washington. He’s been in place since July 2021, long enough that the airport’s current problems – and failure to fix known issues – lie at his feet. He was nominated in July, 2022 by President Biden to serve as FAA Administrator. Given the important safety role that agency plays he was, thankfully, not confirmed.
The DIA train is horrendous even when it works. It’s overcrowded and will be even worse with a concourse D in the future.
I wonder if the Boring company could make another tunnel and walkway without surface disruption to the airport.
The blue state blues.
As a resident of Colorado Springs I will do everything I can to avoid flying out of DIA.
Well, it does have that gateway to hell myth and vibe.
I rode the train at Denver twice early this summer. Thankfully, there were no problems!!!
Considering that the former Stapleton Airport site redevelopments haven’t been particularly successful, is it possible to rebuild a properly-designed airport there? Asking for a city…
I remember working in the industry back then. The building and opening took so long that was privately called it “Denver’s Imaginary Airport.” Seems the train system goes into and out of “imaginary” on a regular basis even now.
I was a Continental pilot in the early 90s when Denver International was being built to replace Stapleton, which was a Continental hub. At the time, Denver International had the ICAO designator “DIA.” The opening of the airport was postponed so many times for construction and systems issues that pilots joked DIA stood for “doesn’t include airplanes.”
Are you paid by Colorado Springs airport to constantly shit on Denver airport? Every week there is an article about this one airport as if others don’t have issues. Ffs, give it a rest already and find something else to write about.
@Walter Barry — Where are you based? I’m sure it’s really efficient and organized over there…
‘Are you paid by Colorado Springs airport to constantly shit on Denver airport? Every week there is an article about this one airport as if others don’t have issues. Ffs, give it a rest already and find something else to write about.’ Gosh, the truth hurts doesn’t it?
@1990
I’m in a red state that has constant economic growth safe cities and safe streets. A place where even sane lefties want to move to.
Why doesn’t the state change management and employ more capable people.
And is this the airport where there was some recent coverage about some of the team spending a lot of money to travel to Europe…where obviously they learnt NOTHING.
If the airport was a private organisation, the management would be long gone.
@Walter Berry are there sane lefties?
Safety first. Why does the Denver International Airport (DIA) allow their packed passenger trains to operate at high speed with the doors open? Maybe DIA is filming a remake of the movie, “Throw Momma from the Train.”
@This comes to mind — Apparently not, because there is no such ‘red state’ with ‘constant economic growth’…
“Made in America” has always been a tag line for shoddy.
@LadyOlives — These days, they highlight *designed in California* but we know where most of it’s made… the greatest irony of those ‘America First’ and other ‘red hats’… made in China.
This article is not accurate and dwells on times when things get a little rough (like most airports). Things are not always the way the author of this article describes. Additionally, the author complains about the airport being “nowhere near the city.” Maybe he wasn’t around when people complained about it being in the city. Furthermore, he mentions, “with recent changes, TSA can be a terrible mess – one of the worst in the country.” Show me the data that supports this claim. I’ve flown through Hartsfield and SeaTac and the lines seemed worse, however, bearable. There is no getting around that issue. Thank Al-Qaeda for that. As for train issues etc. those issues happen few and far between. Again, don’t make statements like that without data or proof to back it up. Seems to me the author focuses on the negative and not the positive. This can be seen in how he is still lamenting the issues of the past. Get over it man!