A passenger walks into Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and is greeted by a customer service agent who uses an iPad to check bags.
A monitor by the security checkpoint tells the passenger it will take 20 minutes to get through the security line and suggests walking to a checkpoint five minutes away, where the line is shorter.The traveler then boards the upper deck of an Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane in the world, preparing to depart for Dubai, United Arab Emirates.This is what the airport of the future could look like, DFW Airport board members were told at their annual retreat last month, and it is a future that could become reality in a few years.The airport has already begun its $1.9 billion makeover of Terminals A, B, C and E, and officials are discussing plans to add gates, including some to accommodate the A380, which can carry up to 853 passengers. It is also preparing for new competition from Dallas Love Field, which will be able to serve popular faraway destinations when the Wright Amendment flight restrictions expire in late 2014.And with the renovations comes the opportunity to improve the passenger experience, particularly with its main tenant, American Airlines."It's important for us to get it right and make sure we have enough capacity for the future as well as really take advantage of some of the most current trends in passenger processing," airport CEO Jeff Fegan said.Double-decker planesWhen Terminal D opened in 2005, it was designed with double-decker passenger planes in mind.The year before, the first major components for the Airbus A380 were manufactured even though it would be three more years before the aircraft was delivered to a commercial airline.Since Terminal D has two concourse levels for departing passengers, it needs only minor modifications to accommodate the A380. An additional upper boarding jet bridge and departure/arrival room changes would be required.Fegan said that the airport could be ready for an A380 within nine months and that British Airways has discussed using the plane on its DFW-London Heathrow routes in 2014. Emirates Airline, which will launch daily service from DFW to Dubai in February using the Boeing 777, has also indicated it may use A380s on its U.S. routes.But modifying Terminal D for the A380 is only the beginning of what could be a five-phase development plan for the international terminal. Additional improvements, which may cost $150 million to $200 million, could include more concrete to allow the large A380s to park overnight on a pad instead of at a gate. Airport executives also outlined building up to eight additional gates in a "stinger" expansion of the terminal, which would be essentially the beginning of a Terminal F.While some parts of DFW were underused after Terminal D opened, a string of new airlines has been filling spaces. All of the gates in Terminal D are currently being used, airport spokesman David Magaña said, and with renovation work shutting down gates in Terminal A, most of the rest of DFW's gates are in use.More international gates could also be added between Terminals D and B as American Eagle continues to add foreign destinations.There are plans for a possible nine-gate expansion for Eagle in Terminal B that could be used by 100-seat jets."We're putting on our planning hats to start working on the footprint, the dynamics for all of these things behind the scenes," said Jim Crites, executive vice president of operations.Wright AmendmentIn less than three years, the lifting of Wright Amendment restrictions at will open up many new destinations to North Texas travelers who want to fly out of Love Field.And that is causing some concern among DFW board members, who wonder how Southwest Airlines, Love Field's main tenant, will adjust schedules to accommodate the Dallas business traveler.Love Field is upgrading its facilities and changing its concessions in preparation for the Wright Amendment repeal, hoping to attract other airlines."When the Wright Amendment goes away, they could take 8 percent of the [domestic market] share away from you," airline consultant Michael Boyd told board members at the retreat. Southwest is likely to eliminate some of its multiple daily flights to Houston, Austin and San Antonio to make room for flights to Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas and Atlanta.However, Boyd told the airport board not to worry too much about Love Field's impact because DFW will continue to grow organically with more international routes and connecting traffic on American's network. He added that more residents are moving into the northwest section of the Metroplex than to the east, and they won't want to drive to Love Field when DFW is much closer.DFW may also retain some of the Dallas business travelers with the completion of its Dallas Area Rapid Transit station in 2014. The station, which will attach to Terminal A, will be ready in 2013, and DART is expected to lay the rail down the next year.And with Dallas-based Southwest limited to 16 gates at Love Field, Boyd said, it won't be able to expand its capacity by leaps and bounds.Other airlines, like JetBlue, are also unlikely to add service to an airport where Southwest is dominant."Love is an important part of the region's infrastructure, but it's not the airport gateway for the Metroplex. And won't be," Boyd said.Mobile check-inThe renovation of DFW's older terminals has presented the airport's largest airline with the opportunity to change how passengers are checked in for their flights. Forty-one percent of American's daily flights are at DFW.Tom Del Valle, American's senior vice president of airport services, presented airport board members with various concepts on how the Fort Worth-based airline will use technology to improve customer service. For example, instead of traditional ticket counters in the terminal entrances, there will be roaming agents with tablet computers who can tag baggage and print boarding passes."I need to be sure our employees can meet the customers where they want to be met," Del Valle said. "Roaming service is something we will see in the near future."American has experimented with a program that allows customers to tag their own baggage at Austin-Bergstrom Airport.Del Valle also described a concept where computer monitors near security checkpoints could inform passengers about the wait times through the security lines.And for its elite frequent fliers, American wants to streamline its check-in process, creating a high-end service letting first-class passengers move quickly from the parking garage, through check-in and security, to their gate while passing through a lounge. Del Valle said American has adopted some of these changes for its first-class passengers at New York's JFK Airport.American has also quietly begun offering a new Flagship Check-in service at Los Angeles International Airport, available only to ConciergeKey customers, Five Star services customers and first-class passengers on flights with three classes of service. According to comments in a FlyerTalk forum, these passengers have a separate curbside entrance where they are personally greeted by a customer service agent, checked in and taken to the security checkpoint.That service has not been announced for DFW, but there is still plenty of work occurring at Terminal A.The first section -- about a third of the terminal, from gates A1 to A15 -- was shut down in May and is being stripped to its pipes and beams. It is the first phase of the $1.9 billion Terminal Renewal and Improvement Program, funded by the airport, that is upgrading heating, cooling and plumbing systems and reconfiguring security checkpoints. This phase will take 16 months, and the entire project is scheduled to be completed in 2017."I think when Terminal A opens, you'll see a lot of what we have in mind," Del Valle said.Andrea Ahles, 817-390-7631Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
