WingTips March 2015

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March 2015 Volume 7, Issue 3

In This Issue

Happy Anniversary!

Record Revenue

ACDBE Achievements

Top Airport Wine Bar

Westword Reviews

Famous Aviators

Old Control Tower

Airlines Exhibit

Heathrow Helpers

Giant Lily

Airbus 380

Denver International Airport Celebrates Feb. 28,1995, and 20 Years of AccomplishmentsOn a giant screen was a familiar image of a game board that had five categories anddollar amounts from $100 to $500. Onstage were four lecterns—side by side, eachequipped with a lighted numerical display and buzzer—and stage right was a wider,taller lectern for a moderator.

The set was "Jeopar-DIA"—an airport version of the long-running gameshow"Jeopardy." Instead of Alex Trebek the game was moderated by Denver InternationalAirport CEO Kim Day. As an audience of approximately 300 people watched andenjoyed the game on Feb. 28, 2015, four contestants played "Jeopar-DIA," providingquestions to answers of DIA-related trivia.

Air Service News

Spirit Airlines WillFly to Los Angeles

Spirit Airlines will begin flyingone daily roundtrip betweenLos Angeles (LAX) andDenver in April 2015.

SouthwestIncreasing Flights toPopular Destinations

Southwest will increase itsservice from Denver, beginningJune 7, 2015. The new flightswill be between Denver andAustin, Baltimore, Boston,Columbus, Houston (Hobby),Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando,Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland,Raleigh-Durham, and Seattle.

Southwest Airlines' addednonstop flights bring theairline's current Denver market volume of 174 daily flights upto 185.

Southwest to OfferWeekly Flight toAlbany in June

Once a week on Saturdays,effective June 7, 2015, nonstopservice betweenAlbany, N.Y. (ALB), andDenver begins on SouthwestAirlines.

Contributors

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Denver International Airport celebrated its 20th anniversary with Jeopar-DIA—a fun derivation ofthe popular game show.

Playing the game, which was held in a ballroom of the unfinished Westin DenverInternational Airport hotel, were former Colorado Governor Roy Romer (who was anessential campaigner for annexing the land for DIA) and Denver mayors who havemade a significant contribution to the development and success of DenverInternational: Michael B. Hancock, the city's current mayor, Federico Peña andWellington Webb. The contestants did not win any cash. The winner chose a charitythat guests could contribute to.

The airport's CEO, Kim Day, moderated Jeopar-DIA, which was played with five airport-relatedcategories and dollar amounts from $100 to $500.

Laura Coale – Writer

Steve Klodt – Chief Editor

Heath Montgomery – Writer

Ken Mostek - Photographer

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Four contestants enjoyed playing Jeopar-DIA: current Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock,former Denver mayors Federico Peña (second left) and Welllington Webb (far right); and formerColorado Governor Roy Romer (second from right).

One of the categories was "Quotes," and all of the answers were quotes from thecontestants themselves—some quotes made so long ago that the players didn'tremember saying them.

Helping celebrate was FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, who greeted the invitedguests and praised the city's foresight in building DIA and making it a success. Also atthe celebration to honor the airport were president and CEO of Munich Airport, Dr.Michael Kerkloh, and some of his staff. Munich is Denver International's sister airport.

Posing behind the 20th anniversary cake, created in the likeness of Jeppesen Terminal and thenew Westin hotel, were Dr. Michael Kerkloh and his staff from Munich Airport—DIA's sisterairport.

After the game, Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock, DIA CEO Kim Day, Romer, Peñaand Webb were joined by Huerta in cutting a great cake, which was a small versionof Jeppesen Terminal and the new hotel and transit center complex—complete withwhite fondant peaks for the terminal's roof.

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Approximately 300 guests watched Jeopar-DIA in the new (unfinished) Westin DenverInternational Airport hotel, and helped celebrate DIA's 20th anniversary.

Guest heard remarks by Kim Day and memorable DIA moments recalled by Romer andthe mayors, and saw a short, dynamic airport video.

In a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the opening of DIA, several key officials helpedthe airport's CEO, Kim Day (second from left), cut the amazing cake fashioned to look likeJeppesen Terminal and DIA's new hotel. Joining Day were (left to right): former Colorado Gov.Roy Romer, former Denver Mayor and U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Peña, currentDenver Mayor Michael B. Hancock, former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, and current FAAAdministrator Michael Huerta. The ceremony was at the new Westin Denver International Airporthotel (scheduled to open in November) and held on Feb. 28, 2015—20 years to the day whenDIA opened.

Denver International Airport Department of Aviation employees also celebrated theanniversary, although it was a day earlier, in Jeppesen Terminal. Employees weretreated to hors d'oeuvres and cake. Kim Day thanked the employees for their hardwork and for contributing to a successful 20 years. She also expressed how excitingthe next 20 years will be for the airport. Dr. Kerkloh congratulated DIA and its staffon behalf of the Munich Airport.

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Airport Sets Record in 2014 with $322.8 Million inConcessions RevenueDenver International Airport generated more than $322.8 million in gross concessionsrevenue in 2014, marking the second consecutive year of record-setting sales.The airport's concessions program ended 2014 with gross revenue 9.5 percent higherthan the $294.8 million generated by the program in 2013. DIA currently offers atotal of about 140 shops, restaurants and services in more than 177,000 square feetof space.

Five (2) Eighty is a relatively new shop and is located on Level 5, Jeppesen Terminal.

The revenue translates to an average of $12.07 spent per enplaned passenger in 2014– an increase of 7.58 percent over the $11.22 per enplanement in 2013 and an all-time high for DIA. The airport served a record 53.4 million passengers in 2014.

The sales resulted in an estimated $11.7 million in sales tax to the City and Countyof Denver and about $50.4 million in concessions revenue to DIA. The airport relieson revenue from airline and non-airline sources, as no taxpayer money received bythe city's General Fund is used for DIA expenditures.

DIA's innovative Retail Merchandising Unit (RMU) and kiosk program, which gives smallbusinesses an opportunity to do business at the airport without a large capitalinvestment, generated about $16.4 million in gross revenue – the highest amountsince the RMU program began in 2011.

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MAC is one of numerous retail locations at Denver International Airport. Airport retail, togetherwith service vendors and food and beverage concessions. Earned record gross revenue in2014.

Because of expiring leases, the airport expects to transform about 75 percent of itsshops, restaurants and other amenities over the next few years. In 2014, DIA openeda total of 21 new or updated concession locations as part of this transformation. Atotal of 42 new or updated concessions have opened in the last two years, and theairport expects to open up to 25 new or remodeled locations this year.

Record for Minority and Women-Owned Concession RevenueSet at DIA

Minority- and women-owned concessions companies at Denver International Airportearned nearly $130 million in the 2014 fiscal year, setting a record fordisadvantaged-business revenue at DIA.

DIA is part of the FAA's Airport Concessionaire Disadvantaged Business Enterprise(ACDBE) program (begun in 2006), which gives minority- and women-owned firmsopportunities to be owner or part owner in airport concessions by setting ownershipparticipation goals for every airport shop, restaurant and service.

In 2014, the Denver Office of Economic Development's Division of Small BusinessOpportunity set DIA's ACDBE aspirational participation goal at 33 percent of totalconcession revenue. The 52 certified ACDBE companies' nearly $130 million in FY2014accounted for a record 39.35 percent of gross concessions revenue.

"Denver International Airport is committed to inclusivity, and to providing significantgrowth opportunities for disadvantaged-, minority-, and women-owned firms in allairport business prospects," said airport CEO Kim Day. "We are proud to haveexceeded the FAA-approved ACDBE goals, as part of our initiative to increasediversity throughout the airport and our operations."

DIA's Commerce Hub helps connect small businesses with opportunities at the airportand obtain ACDBE certification. For more information, emailDIACommerceHub@flydenver.com.

Denver International Airport ACDBE AnnualAchievement by Year

Year Total ConcessionsACDBE Revenue

ACDBE

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(FAA Fiscal Year –Oct. 1-Sept. 30)

Revenue($ Dollars)

($ Dollars)Participation

% Rate

2005-2006 193,140,505 52,421,001 27.14

2006-2007 234,650,324 75,285,773 32.08

2007-2008 253,386,460 69,992,575 27.62

2008-2009 232,563,619 76,234,609 32.78

2009-2010 247,617,980 81,819,732 33.04

2010-2011 265,340,805 102,951,451 38.80

2011-2012 279,862,084 107,864,361 38.54

2012-2013 300,271,540 113,310,896 37.74

2013-2014 330,305,526 129,971,406 39.35

Root Down Honored as a Top Airport Wine Bar

A late 2014 posting on Wine Enthusiast magazine's website listed six top domesticairport wine bars. One of the six is DIA's Root Down restaurant, located at C Gates.Although technically not a wine bar (DIA has Crú and Vino Volo, which are true winebars), Root Down nevertheless deserves mention and congratulations for making thelist. Here is the introduction to the posting:

"As holiday travels approach, so do long layovers, increased costs andirate fellow passengers. But don't fret. There are plenty of new, coolwine bars popping up at airports across the country where you candecompress over a pour. These six are oenophile-approved and offertasty foods to fill up on before flying home for the festivities."

—Alexis Korman, Wine Enthusiast magazine

Follow this link to see the six selectees and photos of their establishments:Top-Domestic-Airport-Wine-Bars

Root Down Restaurant at Denver International Airport is located at Concourse C. It was namedone of "Wine Enthusiast" magazine's top airport wine bars and one of local newspaper"Westword's" top DIA restaurants.

Westword Reviews DIA Eateries

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Last November Westword picked the top-10 restaurants at Denver InternationalAirport and published its selections. Then, in February this year, Westword againpublished its choices for the top-10 DIA restaurants. The 2015 list has fourrestaurants that were not on the 2014 list: Boulder Beer Tap House, DenverChophouse, Etai's Bakery Café and Modmarket. Elway's restaurant slipped fromnumber two in 2014 to number seven this year.

Read the 2015 article to see whether you agree or have other favorites: Ten-best-restaurants-at DIA 2015-edition

Great Men and Women of AviationAlberto Santos-DumontDuring the first years of the 20th century, Parisians became used to seeing somethingquite novel in their city: a man flying his personal dirigible above the rooftops ofParis.

The man with the dirigible was Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian whose wealthyfather (the "coffee king of Brazil") had sent him to Paris to study.

Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian living in France, was notable in the early 1900s for hisballoon, dirigible, and heavier-than-air flights. He designed most of his aircraft and was known

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worldwide for his aviation exploits. Photos published in: "The Over-sea Experiments of Santos-Dumont" by Sterling Heilig, McClure's Magazine, v. 19 (1902 July), p. 4. Repository: Library ofCongress: LC-DIG-ppmsca-15881. Photographer: Ben-Yusuf Zaida

"He would keep his dirigible tied to a gas lamp post in front of his Paris apartment atthe Champs-Elysees and every night he would fly to Maxim's for dinner. During theday he'd fly to go shopping, he'd fly to visit friends," said Santos-Dumont biographerPaul Hoffman in a 2003 Reuters article.

In France, the young Brazilian became erudite in physics, chemistry, electricity andastronomy.

In the late 1890s Santos-Dumont experimented with flying in balloons, then dirigibles,ultimately developing a steerable dirigible. Santos-Dumont competed for a prizeoffered to any aeronaut who could take off with his airship from a Parisian park, flyaround the Eiffel Tower, and return to the park within 30 minutes. Santos-Dumontwon the prize on Oct. 19, 1901. He continued to refine his dirigible design, and hisfame was such that Theodore Roosevelt invited him to the White House.

Santos-Dumont then turned to designing a successful heavier-than-air craft, which heeventually accomplished. He demonstrated the plane on Oct. 23, 1906, before anaudience, achieving a takeoff and flight of 220 meters (722 feet) in 21.5 seconds. Hisfeat was documented by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.

Many (especially Brazilians) thought that Santos-Dumont was the first to invent anairplane, because his flight was public and well known and his aircraft achieved flighton its own, whereas the Wright Brothers' first flights—at Kitty Hawk and around theOhio countryside—were known first-hand only by some, and their initial flights werelaunched.

Alberto Santos-Dumont taking his Demoisille monoplane out to the practice grounds for a flight,1909. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZ62-70586, GeorgeGrantham Bain Collection.

In the Reuters article—"Was the Airplane's Inventor Brazilian?"—Peter Jakab, chairmanof the aeronautics division at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington,scoffed at the idea. Jakab said the Wright Brothers flew numerous times beforeSantos-Dumont, including a flight of 24 miles.

Nonetheless, Santos-Dumont was an important figure in aviation history, known

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around the world. After 1906 he created the Damoiselle monoplane and released itsdesign free to the public. He designed a helicopter and what may have been thefirst flight simulator. He also challenged his friend Louis Cartier to create a watchthat could be read while piloting an airship without releasing the controls. Cartier'ssolution was a watch that could be bound to a wrist with a leather band. Santos-Dumont thus popularized the wristwatch, which was barely known at the time.

New Use Found for Stapleton InternationalAirport's Control TowerIt brought hundreds of aircraft into Denver daily, and saw them depart to otherdestinations safely.

It still stands many stories above the surrounding neighborhood, although now, theneighborhood is new and has arisen where there used to be a terminal, fiveconcourses, ramp, and runways before Stapleton International Airport closed on Feb.27, 1995.

The former Stapleton International Airport control tower complex, vacant for 20 years, will soonhouse Punch Bowl Social—a food, beverage and entertainment company—that has announcedplans to redevelop the space.

Of course it wasn't the Stapleton tower itself that did the amazing air traffic controlof Denver air space. It was the FAA controllers. But, they moved on to DenverInternational Airport when Stapleton closed, leaving the tower vacant for 20 years.But, it survived the demolition around it and may become the focal point of the newStapleton community. It is a prominent link to the once proud airport that operatedthere for 65 years.

Now the control tower will have a new tenant—Punch Bowl Social. Read about it in aDenver Post article by Laura Keeney: former-Stapleton-airport-control-tower

"In Flight" Exhibit Showcases Airlines of thePast and Present in DenverDenver International Airport's newest art exhibit,which coincides with the airport's 20thanniversary, is now open in Ansbacher Hall

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through July 2015. Called In Flight: Airlines ofDenver Past and Present, this art exhibit takesvisitors on a stroll down memory lane to thegolden days of air travel portrayed in thetelevision series, Mad Men and Pan Am, whentravel was a special experience and peopledressed up to fly.

The exhibit features memorabilia from airlinepartners, including uniforms from pilots and flightattendants, serving ware, playing cards, modelairplanes, travel bags, airline pins and nostalgicphotos. Visitors can learn about Denver's aviationhistory such as the opening of Denver Municipal Airport on Oct. 17, 1929, StapletonInternational Airport operations, and how Denver International Airport has grown tobe the fifth-busiest airport in the nation and 15th busiest airport in the world, servingmore than 53 million passengers a year.

One of Southwest Airlines' branded items in previous years was this customized "princess"telephone decorated in the carrier's original livery.

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The "In Flight" exhibit has numerous items that represent the history of United Airlines, whichbegan flying passengers in Denver in 1937

This exhibition was curated by the Art and Culture Program of Denver InternationalAirport and made possible by photo and artifact loans from Wings Over the RockiesAir and Space Museum, United Airlines Historical Foundation, Denver Public Libraryand several operating airlines that serve Denver today.

A Continental Airlines dinner setting and silver service represent the days when flying often wasa more elegant experience.

Heathrow Helpers Set High Bar for CustomerServiceDescribing its new customer service initiative as the "next generation of passengerservice," London's Heathrow Airport launched Heathrow Helpers in fall 2014.

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London's Heathrow Airport now has customer service personnel called Heathrow Helpers, whohave "tool belts" with items to help passengers.

The helpers are a team of highly experienced, trained service agents whose goal is"to assist with every passenger demand," according to Heathrow. Each helper wears apurple uniform and has a unique tool belt with equipment that can handle the mostfrequent passenger requests. Examples of the equipment are: chargers for businesstravelers' iPad and iPhones, teddy bears to keep children happy, London A-Z streetmaps for tourists, and vouchers for champagne or Starbucks coffee.

The current Heathrow Helpers can provide assistance in more than 38 languages.They are sources of information not only about airport operations and facilities butalso sports news, weather conditions, destination advice and games to entertainchildren. Heathrow Upgrade service provides a Heathrow Helper for the duration of apassenger's airport journey.

Who Says Lilies Aren't 28 Feet Tall?A stunning new sculpture greets travelers at Denver International Airport's JeppesenTerminal atrium.

Called Denver Lily, this 28-feet-tall piece is made of hand-forged sheets of steel.Denver Lily is the work of local artist Price Davis, of Price Davis Gallery, and is onexhibit through May 2015. The sculpture's steel sheets have been stained and powdercoated to achieve the pink and white colors of the flower and the green stem.

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"By installing a giant flower sculpture in the center of Jeppesen Terminal, our goal isto surprise and delight passengers during spring, while showcasing a local artist andhis talent," said Denver International Airport's art and culture manager, Chris Stevens.

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The images above are of the steel sculpture "Denver Lily", a temporary art installation in DIA'sJeppesen Terminal. Denver Lily is the work of local artist Price Davis. The sculpture is 28 feettall.

Price Davis is a multimodal craftsman with an emphasis on architecture. He has beenan artist since the mid-'80s, although he has a multidimensional background inbusiness and real estate that has better refined his skills—not only as an artist butalso as a philanthropic entrepreneur. Davis studied at Penn State and received abachelor's degree in kinetic engineering. The study of movement led him into theworld of art. He is a self-taught artist, beginning with the purchase of a weldingmachine and sitting down and learning to weld. Visit pricedavisgallery.com to learnmore about Davis and his work.

Tour the Interior of an Airbus 380-800Did you know that the wings of an Airbus 380 are 54 percent larger than those of aBoeing 747, and if all the aircraft's wiring was laid end to end, it would cover 320miles, roughly the distance between London and Edinburgh, Scotland?

A British Airways Airbus 380

If you've never flown on an Airbus 380 (largest commercial aircraft), click on the linkfor a video tour inside a British Airways version of the double-decker, massiveengineering marvel. The tour includes a visit to the cockpit.

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