DFW Airports
Airports put sky in reach
By DEBORAH WORMSER
Special Contributor / The Dallas Morning News

Business travelers, globetrotters and weekend adventurers can find plenty of ways to get in and out of town at Dallas-Fort Worth's two major passenger airports.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is the generalist. All modes of transportation lead to it, and travelers can get most anywhere in the world from it. Love Field, seven miles northwest of downtown Dallas, is the home of short-haul specialist Southwest Airlines.

D/FW, the world's sixth-busiest airport, serves 54 million passengers a year, with more than 2,000 takeoffs and landings a day. More than two dozen airlines use the airport's 137 gates to reach more than 150 destinations worldwide.

In 2002, about 5.6 million passengers traveled through Love Field, which serves two airlines: Southwest and Continental Express. The airport hosts 100 daily flights to 17 destinations.

Love Field

The words "you can't get there from here" sometimes figure in conversations about Love Field because of a long legal battle over the urban airport that went to the Supreme Court and resulted in two acts of Congress.

When D/FW Airport was created through a bond agreement between Dallas and Fort Worth in 1968, the cities sought promises from the eight commercial airlines at Love Field to move their operations to the new regional airport.

The Regional Airport Board and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth later sued Southwest, trying to force the start-up to go to D/FW. In 1972, a court granted Southwest the right to fly to Texas destinations from Love Field. After Congress deregulated air travel in 1978, Southwest began flying out of state the next year – all the way to New Orleans.

Congress responded by passing the Wright amendment, restricting Love Field flights on planes with more than 56 seats to points within Texas and its neighboring states. Those with 56 seats or fewer could fly anywhere. Another congressional decision, the Shelby amendment, expanded the restricted flights to Alabama, Kansas and Mississippi.

Love Field is so small that getting around the remodeled terminal is a snap. Drop off departing passengers on the lower level, and pick up arriving ones on the upper level, airport spokeswoman Lynetta Moore says, but adds, "At Love, there is no need to say 'goodbye' at the curb because we have plenty of restaurant and lobby space before the security screening checkpoints."

The new parking garage and people-mover system opened in February, and the airport now boasts 7,678 parking spaces. The closer Garage A provides 3,122 covered spaces at $10 a day. Garage B has 4,006 spaces at $7 a day, and the uncovered economy lot (550 spaces) with free shuttle service to the terminal building is $5 per day. The first 30 minutes of parking is free.

D/FW International

Everything is bigger at D/FW Airport, including the building projects. More than 50 construction companies are involved in D/FW's $2.6 billion capital development program, which includes the new international terminal, Terminal D, and the world's largest airport train system. That system will eventually zip up to 8,500 travelers an hour on elevated tracks connecting all terminals.

Both projects are set for completion in 2005. The 2 million-square-foot terminal will have 28 gates, 100,000 square feet of concessions and a 300-room Grand Hyatt Hotel with a rooftop pool and spa.

The project also includes a garage with 8,100 parking spaces and a smart-technology system to guide drivers to parking spots.

For now, D/FW has four terminals: A, B, C and E. When dropping off or picking up passengers or parking in the close-in terminal lots, keep to the left because all turnoffs into the terminals are from the left lane of the main thoroughfare.

When departing the terminals by car, there are only two choices: the north exit for Interstate 635 and State Highways 121 or 114, or the south exit for State Highway 183.

Terminal parking is $16 per day and $1 per hour for the first three hours for those dropping off or picking up passengers. The front rows of terminal parking are often blocked off for security reasons. Express parking ($9 a day) is available near terminals B and E. Both are served by the free airport train system, as well as shuttle buses that feature free bottled water, USA Today newspapers and at-your-car passenger and baggage pickup. There are two remote lots ($5 a day), located at the north and south ends of the airport, which have free bus service to the terminal areas.

The remote spots are the most popular. They usually fill on weekends and holidays, with the north lot filling first, so allow extra time when trying to find a spot in one.

Rates for some parking areas are scheduled to increase in September.

Transit service is available Monday through Saturday from downtown Dallas or Fort Worth to D/FW for $2.25 each way or $4.50 for a day pass good on the entire DART system. The Trinity Railway Express commuter train travels from Dallas' Union Station or Fort Worth's Intermodal Transportation Center to the CentrePort-D/FW station, where free buses continue to the terminals.