Denver International Airport Decision

Denver International Airport (DIA)

Answers:

1) The decision to build a new airport at Denver was strategically a sound decision to handle the necessary traffic expected by the year 2000. The airport was 500 miles from other major cities; the insufficient of the old airport capacity would cause Denver to lose valuable business. In fact, Denver’s Stapleton International Airport became the fifth busiest in the country, with thirty million passengers. In the long term, the new airport was viewed as a potential hub for Northwest or US air. Finally, city officials believed that Denver’s location, being equidistant from Japan and Germany, would allow twin-engine, extended range transports to reach both countries nonstop.

2) Analysis

3) The stakeholders were

• Airlines, specifically Denver’s United Airlines and Continental; they comprised 80 percent of all flights of Denver. delays, rerouting, canceled flights, putting travelers into hotels overnight, employee overtime pay, and switching passengers to other airlines at Stapleton caused lost income to the airlines each year.

• businesses, concerned delays in air fright.

• Adam’s county residents as this new project is being on their land and would bring some competing businesses to their city.

4) airlines did not support the decision to build DIA. At the time airport management was conducting studies for the new project, the recession of 1979-1983 occurred. Several airlines, such as Braniff, filed for bankruptcy protection and the airline industry headed for consolidation through mergers and leveraged buyouts. United and Continental controlled 80 percent of their flights at Stapleton and even though they refused to put any effort in IDA design hoping that the whole project would be canceled.

5) The united believed in the need for the new airport that will become an international airport.

6) Several of United gates were more than a mile from the main terminal, and United had a high volume of flights with a short possible turnaround so they were worried that passengers would have to wait for their luggage. The new system would send luggage to the carousel in 10 minutes, so United can calculate that time in the turnaround times and arrival/departure scheduling.

7) Yes, Continental constituted more than 33% of emplaned passengers at Stapleton at that time; and building DIA would be a huge support to Continental