Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport History Disasters At DFW

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
FAA diagram of DFW, with old terminal numbers
Quick Info
Type of Airport	commercial
Run by	City of Dallas, City of Fort Worth
Opened	January 13, 1974
Cities	Euless, Grapevine, and Irving, Texas, United States
Latitude	Longitude
32° 53' 49" N	97° 02' 17" W
IATA	DFW	ICAO	KDFW
Runways
Direction	Length	Surface
Feet	Meters
17L/35R	8,500	2,591	Paved
17R/35L	13,402	4,085	Paved
17C/35C	11,391	3,472	Paved
18L/36R	13,398	4,084	Paved
18R/36L	11,391	3,472	Paved
Statistics
1997
Number of Passengers	60,488,713
Comments on this test infobox

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, is the busiest airport in Texas and third busiest airport in the world in terms of operations. In terms of passenger traffic, it is the sixth busiest airport in world. In terms of land area, it is the largest airport in Texas, the second largest in the United States, and third largest in the world, with a larger ground area than the island of Manhattan. The airport is the main hub for American Airlines, the world's largest airlineAn airline is an organization providing aviation services to passengers and/or cargo. It owns or leases airliners with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for reasons of mutual benefit. Airline service.

The airport is often referred to by its IATA airport codeThe IATA airport code is a three-letter alphabetic code designating many airports around the world. These codes are defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The IATA airport codes are published tri-annually in the IATA Airline Coding, "DFW." It is operated in many ways like a small cityA city is an urban area, differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. City can also be a synonym for " downtown. Introduction A city usually consists of residential, industrial and business areas. It has its own post office and its own zip code. The members of the airport's Board of Directors are appointed by the "owner cities" of Dallas and Fort Worth. However, the airport is inside the city limits of three other suburban cities, a situation that has led to legal battles over jurisdictionThe term jurisdiction has more than one sense. Power of a court of law Jurisdiction is the power of a court to hear and decide a case before it. In most common law systems, jurisdiction is conceptually divided between jurisdiction over the subject matter (see below). To help ensure future harmony with its neighbors, the DFW Airport Board includes a non-voting member -- a representative chosen from the airport's neighbors ( Irving, Euless, Grapevine, and Coppell) on a rotating basis.

1 History

As early as 1927, before the area had an airport, Dallas proposed a joint airport with Fort Worth. Fort Worth declined the offer, and thus the two cities opened their own airports, Love Field and Meacham Field . Airlines offered service at both airports.

In 1940, the Civil Aeronautics Administration earmarked $1.9 million for the construction of a Dallas-Fort Worth regional airport. American Airlines and Braniff Airways struck a deal with the city of Arlington to build an airport there, but the governments of Dallas and Fort Worth disagreed over its construction, and the project was abandoned in 1943. After World War II, Fort Worth annexed the site and developed it into Amon Carter Field with the help of American Airlines. Fort Worth transferred its commercial flights from Meacham Field to the new airport in 1953, which was now just 12 miles from Dallas Love Field. In 1960, Fort Worth purchased Amon Carter Field and renamed it Greater Southwest International Airport in an attempt to compete with Dallas' more successful airport. However, GSIA's traffic continued to decline relative to Love Field: by the mid-1960s, Fort Worth was getting 1% of Texas air traffic while Dallas was getting 49%, which led to the virtual abandonment of GSIA.

The joint airport proposal was revisited in 1961 after the FAA refused to invest any more money in separate Dallas and Fort Worth airports. Although the Fort Worth airport was eventually abandoned, Dallas Love Field became congested and had no more room to expand. Following an order from the federal government in 1964, officials from the two cities finally agreed on a location for a new regional airport that was north of the abandoned GSIA and almost perfectly equidistant from the two city centers. The land was purchased by both cities in 1966, and construction began in 1969.

The first landing of a supersonic concorde in the United States occurred at DFW Airport in 1973 to commemorate the airport's completion.

DFW Airport opened for commercial service on January 13, 1974. At the time, it was the largest and costliest airport in the world. Following the Wright Amendment of 1979, which banned long-distance flights from Love Field, DFW's traffic skyrocketed. (See Love Field article for a description and history of the Wright Amendment.) In 1978, American Airlines moved its headquarters from New York to Fort Worth (adjacent to DFW on the former site of GSIA). American began its first hub at DFW in 1981, started flights to London in 1982, and started flights to Tokyo in 1987. Delta Air Lines built up a domestic hub at DFW during the same period, but announced its closure in 2004 in a restructuring of the airline to avoid bankruptcy.

In 1989, DFW Airport was the first commercial airport to host a space shuttle landing.

Also in 1989, the airport authority announced plans to rebuild the existing terminals and construct two new runways. After an environmental impact study was released the following year, the cities of Irving, Euless, and Grapevine sued the airport over its expansion plans, a battle that was finally decided (in favor of the airport) by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1994. The seventh runway opened in 1996, and is said to have decreased air congestion throughout the United States by approximately 18 to 22 percent.

A new international terminal and a new people mover system are currently under construction and will open in 2005. When it is completed, the Skylink people mover will be the world's largest high-speed airport train system.

1.1 Disasters at DFW

On the afternoon of August 2, 1985, Delta Air Lines Flight 191, on a Fort Lauderdale-Dallas- Los Angeles route, crashed at DFW Airport, killing 8 of 11 crew members, and 128 of the 152 passengers on board, as well as 1 person on the ground.
On August 31, 1988, Delta Air Lines Flight 1411, which was bound to Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah, crashed after takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. 2 of 7 crew members and 12 of 101 passengers perished.

1.2 Disasters involving DFW

On June 2, 1983, Air Canada Flight 797, which was flying on a Houston-Dallas- Toronto route, made an emergency landing at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Kentucky; about half of the passengers died of smoke and fire.
On June 1, 1999, American Airlines Flight 1420 crashed upon landing at Little Rock National Airport at Little Rock, Arkansas on a flight from Dallas, killing the pilot and 8 passengers.

2 Terminals

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has four terminals and a fifth under construction. The airport is designed to be expandable and can theoretically accommodate up to thirteen terminals totalling 260 gates, although this level of expansion is unlikely to be reached in the foreseeable future.

The terminals at DFW are semicircular and built around the airport's central north-south arterial road, Texas Highway 121. Until the late 1990's, they were designated by a number (2 being northernmost, 4 being southernmost) and a letter suffix ("E" for East, "W" for West). This system was later scrapped, and the terminals are now lettered from A to E.

DFW's terminals are designed to minimize the distance between a passenger's car and airplane: a consequence of this layout is that connecting passengers have to walk extremely long distances between gates. American Airlines operates a people mover system called the "TrAAin" between Terminals A, B, and C, which helps to speed up connections: however, the system is now aging and operates at noticably low speeds. The TrAAin will be replaced by the "Skylink" in early 2005, which will run to all five terminals at a considerably higher speed. When completed, it will be the world's largest high-speed airport train system.

2.1 Terminal A (former Terminal 2E)

American Airlines Gates A9 - A39 (Albuquerque, Anchorage, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Belize, Birmingham, Boston, Buenos Aires, Burbank, Calgary, Cancun, Caracas, Charlotte, Chicago Midway, Chicago O'Hare, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Cozumel, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Fresno, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Frankfurt, Guadalajara, Guatemala City, Hartford, Honolulu, Houston Bush, Huntsville/Decatur, Indianapolis, Ixtapa, Jackson Hole, Jacksonville, Kahului, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Leon/Guanajuato, Lima, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Louisville, Madrid, Memphis, Mexico City, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Monterrey, Montreal, Nashville, Nassau, Newark, New Orleans, New York JFK, New York LaGuardia, Norfolk, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Ontario, Orange County, Orlando, Palm Springs, Paris de Gaulle, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland OR, Providence, Puerto Vallarta, Raleigh/Durham, Reno, Richmond, Rio de Janeiro, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose CA, San Jose Cabo, San Jose CR, San Juan, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Seattle/Tacoma, St. Louis, Tampa, Tokyo Narita, Toronto, Tucson, Tulsa, Vail/Eagle, Vancouver, Washington Dulles, Washington Reagan, West Palm Beach, Wichita, Zurich)
American Eagle Gates A2A - A2N, A3 - A4 (Abilene, Amarillo, Baton Rouge, Cedar Rapids, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, College Station, Columbus, Corpus Christi, Dayton, Des Moines, Detroit, Fayetteville AR, Fort Smith, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Houston Bush, Houston Hobby, Huntsville/Decatur, Jackson/Vicksburg, Kileen, Knoxville, Laredo, Lawton, Little Rock, Longview, Louisville, Lubbock, Memphis, Midland/Odessa, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Mission, Monterrey, Nassau, Oklahoma City, Peoria, San Angelo, San Salvador, Santa Barbara, Shreveport, Springfield MO, Texarkana, Torreon, Tulsa, Tyler, Waco, Wichita, Wichita Falls)
Grupo Taca Gate A16 (Guatemala)

2.2 Terminal B (former Terminal 2W)

Air Canada Jazz Gates B25, B28, B30 - B31 (Toronto)
America West Gate B16 (Las Vegas, Phoenix)
American Eagle Gates B2 - B13
American Trans Air Gate B24 (Chicago Midway)
British Airways Gate B33 (London Gatwick)
Continental Airlines Gates B13, B15-B16, B18 (Cleveland, Newark)
Continental Express Gates B13, B15-B16, B18 (Houston Bush)
Frontier Airlines Gates B16, B33 (Denver)
Korean Air Gate B36 (Seoul Incheon)
Lufthansa Gate B34 (Frankfurt)
Mesa Airlines Gate B18 (Brownwood, El Dorado, Hot Springs, Ponca City)
Midwest Airlines Gate B18 (Milwaukee)
Sol Air Gate B23 (Roatan)
United Airlines Gates B25, B28, B30 - B31 (Denver, Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles, Seattle/Tacoma, Washington Dulles)
US Airways Gates B19 - B21, B23 (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh)

2.3 Terminal C (former Terminal 3E)

American Airlines Gates C2 - C39

2.4 Terminal D

Under construction: will handle DFW's international flights. Scheduled to open in summer 2005. The terminal will have 23 gates and an integrated 298-room Hyatt Hotel.

2.5 Terminal E (former Terminal 4E)

Aeroméxico Gates E36 - E37 (Mexico City)
AirTran Gate E02 (Atlanta)
Champion Air Gate E37 (charter)
Delta Air Lines Gates E07 - E38 (Albuquerque, Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York LaGuardia, Orlando, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Tampa)
Delta Connection ( Atlantic Southeast, Chautauqua Airlines, Comair and Skywest) Gates E22 - E30 (Albuquerque, Alexandria, Amarillo, Austin, Baton Rouge, Beaumont, Birmingham AL, Charleston SC, Cincinnati, Colorado Springs, Columbus MS, Columbia SC, Denver, Fort Walton Beach, Greensboro, Gulfport/Biloxi, Houston Bush, Houston Hobby, Huntsville/Decatur, Indianapolis, Jackson, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Lafayette, Lexington, Little Rock, Lubbock, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, New Orleans, New York JFK, NW Arkansas, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Ontario, Orange County, Panama City, Pensacola, Phoenix, San Antonio, Savannah, Shreveport, Tallahassee, Tucson, Tulsa, Washington Reagan, West Palm Beach, Wichita)
Northwest Airlines Gates E04 - E06 (Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul)
Sun Country Airlines Gate E38 (Cancun, Minneapolis/St. Paul)

3 External links

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Homepage

Handbook of Texas Online: Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

Airports of Texas Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

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