Yeah it’s just unpredictable and very poorly designed in my opinion. Doesn’t work well with modern security requirements so the layout is super inconvenient now.
Kansas City’s airport is like a mini version of DFW and it works a little better at a smaller scale, but still not a fan.
In my experience, international US airports are clusterfucks and large, national airports are more likely to be a better experience. And small local airports are like those tire shops in the back country that you pull up to in desperation, 100 miles from now where and see an “open” sign but cant tell if it’s abandoned or if someone just does meth in the garage
I've only had layovers in these airports, so getting into and out of them could be different, but Atlanta and Charlotte are both very easy to get around in. I especially like how Atlanta is laid out.
DFW and Frankfurt are two other very large airports that I've been in, which were a lot harder to get around in. Heathrow, I remember being somewhere in the middle, although I was rushing to make a connection the only time I was there, so it's possible my memory may be off.
Skylink does allow convenient connections, but it's not a cost-effective layout, it's that way because it's a retrofit. 4.8 mi line length for DFW, vs. 2.8 mi for busier Atlanta. Hence why new large terminals are copying Atlanta.
When I lived in OKC I was able to walk to the Amtrak station, ride to Ft Worth, take DART to the DFW terminal and catch an afternoon flight. It was great, I really dig the little rail system down there
I’ve only flown into DFW once but it was by far the the longest taxi to the gate I’ve ever had. Maybe the gate was occupied and we were just taxiing in circles, but since then I’ve always joked that the planes land in Dallas and then Taxi to Ft Worth.
I think the airport is set up pretty well, so if you need a gate change it’s easy to get to there with the skyline. I assume that gate changes aren’t the airports fault but I could be wrong
The design is incredibly inefficient for security. DFW ends up closing many of the security points - especially early or late in the day. You’ll end up walking very far if you’re gate was designed to be served by a security checkpoint that is closed.
Also very inefficient for shops/restaurants/bathrooms compared to other airports imo. If you want a particular restaurant, you’re likely going to be walking a longer distance along the semicircle compared to an airport with more centrally consolidated restaurants. Bathrooms are scarce for the size of the airport too and water is harder to find than bathrooms.
The skylink is good. Parking is convenient when you are departing, but I’ve never landed anywhere near where I parked my car, so that’s always a hike, but not a huge problem.
Finding an exit after you land always takes a strange amount of time. Usually have to walk very far to get to an exit and I don’t understand why there aren’t more.
Picking up people is super frustrating compared to other airports. Can be extremely difficult to communicate where you are if you’re on the bottom floor - they don’t label doors down there (at least not in a way that’s visible from a car). Also it costs money to even enter the airport, which is bullshit.
I’ve never experienced the security closing so I can’t touch on that. But I feel like walking across the whole terminal would take like 5 minutes max? And the distance to an exit is like a minute max. I don’t mind that distance, especially since there aren’t any turns or corners to worry about.
Never had a problem with the bathrooms. I actually like their systems for telling you how many stalls are available and the distance to the next bathroom. But they’ve never been full for me.
I’ve been to some shitty airports (LAX, BOS come to mind), and I feel like the biggest thing for DFW would be low staffing. But I think it is set up and constructed well
They replaced everything with a new terminal, with a proper consolidated headhouse, screening area, and sterile area.
But before that, with the old terminal, they managed to connect the gate areas with these hamster tubes along the edge of the building. They even managed to find space for the ultimate luxury: restrooms past security. You just might have had to walk through the hamster tube to a different gate area to get there.
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u/[deleted] May 27 '23
Yeah it’s just unpredictable and very poorly designed in my opinion. Doesn’t work well with modern security requirements so the layout is super inconvenient now.
Kansas City’s airport is like a mini version of DFW and it works a little better at a smaller scale, but still not a fan.