Upgrades coming to Denver International Airport may increase some costs and cut others while offering more career opportunities
Construction is hard to miss at Denver International Airport - but DIA CEO Phil Washington promises progress is being made on the Great Hall Project.
"I've challenged our team to finish this project ahead of schedule," he told CBS News Colorado.
By spring of 2023, he says four new security lanes will be open. Two new checkpoints will be built as part of the Great Hall Project -- the first one opens in early 2024 and the second in mid-2026.
And they'll include technology to help move passengers through faster.
The airport is also conducting a study to determine if a seventh runway should be added, and where it would go.
"The idea is to determine where we are, to work in partnership with the FAA and include public input ... and the planning process be completed next year," said Washington. "We're also looking at how to optimize the existing six runways."
Passenger traffic is up slightly compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and Thanksgiving numbers are up 12% over 2021, according to airport data.
Denver International Airport added 39 gates earlier this year, as well as concessions like Voodoo Doughnut, in the center of Concourse B. Washington says more concessions are in the works as well as more charging stations.
"We get a lot of inquiries about charging stations in the gate areas, so we are installing new charging stations," Washington said.
The airport also revealed conceptual renderings for the Center of Equity and Excellence in Aviation. Washington said it is a "first-of-its-kind training center" that will help create a pipeline of aviation talent. It will also provide under-represented and young people with aviation career opportunities.
"We want young people in the community, we want young people from underserved communities, we want employees here at DEN who are interested in aviation to pursue it through this center of equity and excellence in aviation," Washington said, adding it is funded through the Great Hall construction project. "We want the rocky mountain region to be the place to go for aviation talent."
The airport is also getting a helping hand to improve its baggage system; $60 million, to be exact, from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
"We received the largest single grant in the country," Washington said.
An airport spokesperson later clarified that it was the largest Airport Terminal Program discretionary grant in the country.
He says he has a list of other improvements he wants to make, including to Peña Boulevard, or what he calls "the ten-mile driveway to the airport."
"Peña goes like this, around that toll plaza," he said. "The idea would be to - if we remove that, to straighten out Peña and do some other improvement - I think it would enhance the customer experience."
Customers in need of a rental car may soon have to pay a bit more.
Denver's airport is proposing to increase a daily rental fee from $2.15 - the lowest in the country - to $6, which is the national average. That would be on top of the rental rate itself.
Washington says - if approved - revenue would go toward building a consolidated rental car facility, a sort of "one-stop-shop" for travelers. That would go into effect in February if approved.
But the airport is also hoping to reduce some costs.
Washington said he's working with RTD to change its fare system and make it more budget-friendly.
"Right now it's cheaper for people to drive and park out here than it is to take transit, and that should not be the case," said Washington.
