Delta's CEO MSP is the World's best ran airport.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by emcee squared

A mere 14 years ago, MSP was the 13th largest airport in the world by passengers and about 40th in the world today. That's a decent amount of traffic, I think.

I'm talking about origin and destination international traffic. Los Angeles has tons and tons of it. Minneapolis/St. Paul has a lot less.

Originally Posted by Old Prospector

DFW is a pain to get to. Tolls, confusing entrances and exists, and endless construction. Once you get inside it's ok I guess.

Not even. It's right in the middle of Dallas and Fort Worth, the suburbs, and connected to almost all major freeways in the area. It gets a solid A in access.

[jewban]

Originally Posted by Old Prospector

DFW is a pain to get to. Tolls, confusing entrances and exists, and endless construction. Once you get inside it's ok I guess.

You must not have spent much time in the D/FW area. The airport is easily accesible, and DART light rail opened last month and in Texan efficiency opened ahead of schedule and under budget.

[iNviNciBL3]

MSP does have a great location, very close to the cities... however we are screwed when the airport goes way over capacity.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by iNviNciBL3

MSP does have a great location, very close to the cities... however we are screwed when the airport goes way over capacity.

Can you clarify what you mean by this?

[laxster]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

No, we get it all too well. General consensus here is against you. The only reasonable explanation for you being so wildly off base is that your "travel" experience is made up. Besides, should you really be using the school computers to post here?

I do agree with the vast majority - MSP certainly isn't a dump. It is older, but it has been kept updated and expanded with the times. The oldest concourses have lower ceilings in relation to the width of the concourses, but they are of good condition. There is more carpet in this airport than others, but it doesn't look worn.

The only North American airport I like more is Toronto YYZ. MSP certainly has better stores and restaurants than ANY airport I have ever been in.

Oh, and I travel several times a month. Objectively speaking, that MSP hater is off his rocker.

[aus1ander]

Originally Posted by jewban

You must not have spent much time in the D/FW area. The airport is easily accesible, and DART light rail opened last month and in Texan efficiency opened ahead of schedule and under budget.

I've traveled to most major cities in the US, including your examples of DFW and MIA. I live in St Paul and fly through MSP every 1-2 months. My wife was also in a consulting job until recently and has seen most of the airports in the US given she flew every week. We also fly to international destinations every year.

MSP is not a dump by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I think its one of the best domestic airports in the country. Its rare to find airports with ample room to sit down and relax, that are well lit, and have clean bathrooms. MSP also has good shopping and dining options with plenty of space to relax if you have time to burn at the airport. Security is fast, especially if you have status (which you must given you travel 200k miles a year). The renovated parts of Terminal 1 (concourses A, B, C and G) rival any modern airport in the US. We fly Delta exclusively and have never had issues with them. I can't remember our last delayed or cancelled flight.

DFW is a decent airport, especially if you are flying from DFW or your final destination is DFW. There is very little walking from gate to the curb. However, if you connect through DFW, its a nightmare. You may have to take a 10 minute train ride to the other side of the airport. The gate seating is relatively small and I found times that I had to sit on the floor. The baggage claim area is small (since it just serves a few gates) and very crowded if more than 1 plane arrived at the same time.

MIA is recently renovated, so you can't compare it to MSP. I was last in Miami 2-3 years ago when they were still building the new concourses. Our flight out was from one of the new concourses that recently opened and it was nice, but not significantly better than MSP.

[aus1ander]

Originally Posted by jewban

So much for down to earth Midwesterners, people in the Northeast can actually engage in meaningful discussion.

To have meaningful discussion, you cannot assume your audience is so ignorant and backwards that we haven't experienced what you have experienced. There are many people here, myself included, who travel often and do not agree with your opinion of MSP.

[iNviNciBL3]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

Can you clarify what you mean by this?

No room to expand. airport is surrounded by development.

But i'm sure we could build a smaller airport (like Chicago-Midway) somewhere though... not that this is a issue at the moment, probably not until they year 2030.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by iNviNciBL3

No room to expand. airport is surrounded by development.

But i'm sure we could build a smaller airport (like Chicago-Midway) somewhere though... not that this is a issue at the moment, probably not until they year 2030.

Gotcha, thanks. Probably being boxed in by major highways is also an issue. The development can be taken through eminent domain but not cheaply, and re-routing any of those highways would be very costly.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Aren't they reworking the concourses to add capacity -- part of a $2-$4B retrofit? I don't THINK a new runway was part of that, but perhaps expanding some....IDK. Someone else know more about this project?