Denver International Airport

The Denver International Airport opened the morning after Stapleton Airfield closed. This new airport had little changes from Stapleton, but was said to improve a lot. With five widely-spaced runways operational on opening day, and an efficient terminal and taxiway design, the new airport immediately started paying off. Airport and weather related delays soon became a thing of the past. According to the "First Year Report" from the Denver International Airport, the following statistics were revealed:


• Average weather attritable delays - 3.1 per 1,000 flights vs. Stapleton's 14.9 per 1,000
• December 1995 airport-related delays - Zero for DIA vs. previous Stapleton average of 1,100
• DIA achieved a 120-plane-per-hour arrival rate - 35% higher than Stapleton's good-weather rate, and 275% better than it's previous bad weather rate
• March 1996 (even with a snowfall of 16.4 inches) - DIA ranked #1 in the U.S. for on-time arrivals
• 1996 first-quarter FAA-reported delays dropped to 0.8 per 1,000 flights, which is significantly less than every other major U.S. airport.


However, some disagree with all that and have claimed DIA is the "Most Inconvenient Airport."

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"Stapleton's Final Flight." Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://www.geocities.com/~aeromoe/stapleton.html>.


"Denver International: America's Most Inconvenient Airport." , David Kopel, Federico Pena, Independence Institute. Web. 07 Mar. 2012.
<http://davekopel.com/Misc/OpEds/op930300.htm> .