The most user unfriendly airport. Period. (Denver: price, train, design)

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

I would have to say that the Colorado Springs Airport is much easier to use then DIA, then again Pueblo is easier yet but we only have 3 flights a day so if you cant get around there you must be a idiot lol

My point is the larger the airport the harder it is to navigate.

That reminds me of Springfield, MO where you walk up to the American Airlines counter and they ask "St. Louis or Dallas"? I think they have all of 8 gates. Small airports sure are easy to deal with.

[reginhild]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

That reminds me of Springfield, MO where you walk up to the American Airlines counter and they ask "St. Louis or Dallas"? I think they have all of 8 gates. Small airports sure are easy to deal with.

...but those 3 flight airports like Pueblo lead you to the nearest big city airports...

On the Denver airport, I like it except for that it has seemed to claim more luggage than any other I have seen. Lots of friends and I choose connecting flights from Colorado Springs through other big airports such as Chicago or Dallas/Ft.Worth and avoid the connection through Denver due to numerous lost luggage issues in Denver.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Hey look! A New Yawker complaining about a Western city! I've visited Denver several times now and never had problem getting around the airport. As for ground transportation, there's these things called cars you can rent. The bus will even take you to them for free!

You summed it up nicely. According to most East Coasters, there is nothing worthwhile west of the Mississippi.

I'm surprised he wasn't disappointed that there weren't horses tied out front of the aiport to take him into town.

Transportation is always an issue in cities on this side of the country. We drive places. Things are spread out. One day, DIA should have the train that goes out there and it IS in the middle of nowhere but the planners did that on purpose in order to avoid encroachment issues that nearly every airport suffers from. I lived in NY for a summer in college and loved the convenience of being able to walk nearly everywhere, but I do love my car and despite my "carbon footprint" I will always live somewhere that I can have a car. It's a different mindset and you'll hear valid arguments from both sides of the issue. It's what you prefer and I hated having to lug my groceries down the street.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by SubaruFiend

This made me laugh because that's how it is when you fly out of Chicago's Midway airport! I couldn't sit FORWARD until after we'd lifted off and were leveling out!

And the landing......... good GOD! It's like the pilot has a death sentence........ or is trying to crash land it into the runway! I've never felt a 737 feel like it was going to fall apart until we "touched down" at Midway!

(Another funny story: when I flew home from Denver to chicago this past jan I flew into Ohare....... itd been snowing and it was slippery out so pilots really have to put the planes down hard so they "stick"..... apparently that's how they do it in the military on aircraft carriers so the planes "stick" and don't go flying off the end of the ship....... well when we "touched down" (more like slammed down) the copilot came on and was like "Navy Pilot" :P )

The OC's airport is that way because everyone living around the airport complains nonstop about the noise. The planes need to get above a certain altitude in order not to disturb the richies. Airline employees joke it's a "space shuttle" airport because you are quite literally slammed into your seat during takeoff and do a "facer" into the seat in front of you on landing. God forbid airplanes make noise...better to wear out the brakes on landing than inconvenience someone nearby.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by the3Ds

The OC's airport is that way because everyone living around the airport complains nonstop about the noise. The planes need to get above a certain altitude in order not to disturb the richies. Airline employees joke it's a "space shuttle" airport because you are quite literally slammed into your seat during takeoff and do a "facer" into the seat in front of you on landing. God forbid airplanes make noise...better to wear out the brakes on landing than inconvenience someone nearby.

I always thought it was fun taking off from SNA - sort of like a roller coaster ride

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by denverian

I always thought it was fun taking off from SNA - sort of like a roller coaster ride

Me too, except once we hit a bird during takeoff and by the time we stopped, the entire plane was off the runway cement and we had to get the airplane tug to back us up and out of the grass...an hour later we were back at the gate. Not fun. I'd rather ride on a real roller coaster.

[buckeyenative01]

Most pilots hate flying in and out of SNA because with all the noise abatement requirements and those odd takeoff/landing procedures, the margin of error is a lot smaller than other airports. Personally, I hate flying out of there but it was the closest airport to where I lived in Orange County.

I've also had some flights where the takeoff was relatively smooth and the boost of power wasn't too jolting once we got out over the Pacific, but the majority of pilots (I'm guessing they were ex-USAF guys who love testing the limits of their planes) rev the engines back up a little too quickly which creates an odd (in my opinion, terrifying) pressed-against-your-seat feeling because of the sudden power increase.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by buckeyenative01

I've also had some flights where the takeoff was relatively smooth and the boost of power wasn't too jolting once we got out over the Pacific, but the majority of pilots (I'm guessing they were ex-USAF guys who love testing the limits of their planes) rev the engines back up a little too quickly which creates an odd (in my opinion, terrifying) pressed-against-your-seat feeling because of the sudden power increase.

That's my favorite part. Heck, I wish passenger jets had afterburners.

[ColoWeb]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

I wish passenger jets had afterburners.

That's Classic!

Lets start a petition for this "feature" in a 797 ?

[EscapeCalifornia]

Have any of you locals heard any more about why that plane at DIA went off the runway a couple of months ago?

And does anyone know how airports deal with ice on the runways? I imagine anything granular like rock salt or sand would be a bad idea around jet engines. Do they use mag-chloride?