Little Turbulence at Denver International Airport

Little Turbulence at Airport
Boulder Daily Camera, CO

December 29, 2003

DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT — Denver's airport handled its third-busiest day 
ever Sunday with ease. 

A relatively even distribution of passengers throughout the day and the 
relocation of vehicle-screening checkpoints — which backed up traffic for 
miles on Tuesday — were among the reasons why, said DIA spokeswoman Sally 
Covington. 
 
Sunday's estimated 128,124 passengers formed the peak of DIA's busiest week in 
history: The airport was estimated to have handled nearly 808,000 passengers 
between last Tuesday and today, when about 123,000 are anticipated. The airport 
averaged about 100,000 passengers per day in 2002. 

The previous seven-day record was set in August 2001, when 775,000 passengers 
used DIA, according to the airport. The busiest day ever was the Sunday after 
Thanksgiving in 1997, with 131,480 travelers. 

On Sunday afternoon, security waits were around five minutes both inside and 
outside the terminal. 

Julie DeWitte of Los Angeles had spent a long weekend in Colorado and arrived 
at DIA about two hours before her flight Sunday. 

"I came early but didn't need to," she said as she wheeled her carry-on from a 
United check-in counter. "I checked in about 10 minutes and it was smooth." 

Covington said Saturday morning passenger screening lines of about 35 minutes 
were the weekend's worst. Today's passenger-traffic forecasts look to have 
spikes at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., she said. 

But Covington advised passengers to stick with the two-hour-early rule (three 
hours early for international flights). Otherwise, Covington said, the 
combination of early birds and regular traffic can back things up. 

The problems Tuesday came after vehicle checkpoints were ordered by the 
Department of Homeland Security after the Department raised the 
terrorist-threat advisory to code orange, which indicates a high risk of 
terrorist attack. 

A single checkpoint was set up at the old Pea Boulevard toll booth about two 
miles from the terminal. Vehicles headed to long-term parking — and never 
nearing the terminal — were randomly checked, as well as cars planning to 
park in the short-term parking structure, which has its own security 
checkpoint. 

The relative calm of the airport Sunday probably shouldn't be surprising. 
Though Sunday traffic was near record levels, DIA was designed to handle about 
55 million passengers a year, an average of about 151,000 a day. 

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