We travelers deserve better.

• Author: Rundles, Jeff

I admit it. Going back nearly 20 years now as civic leaders began discussing the need for a new airport, I was one of the people who thought Denver International Airport was a bad idea. I was wrong. I thought DIA was too expensive and would never pay for itself, and that has turned out not to be the case. DIA has proven itself to be more than economically viable, and it has set--and continues to set--passenger volume records.

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So, for that last 12 years--since DIA's opening in February 1995--I have basically kept my mouth shut. But over the years, as I have heard DIA and city officials tout the numbers and imply that DIA is, for the most part, a rousing success with the aviation community and the public alike, it's taken all I had to bite my lip and say nothing.

That's over now. I dislike DIA and have come to realize I am not alone.

In May, the respected research firm J.D. Power issued its seventh annual North American Satisfaction Index Study (jdpower.com, travel, airport ratings), and the news for DIA is not good, not good at all. In the survey results for large airports--those 17 airports doing more than 30 million in passenger volume per year--DIA came in dead last.

In nine categories covering such things as Overall Airport Satisfaction, Airport Accessibility, Baggage Claim and Terminal Facilities, DIA received two marks out of five in seven categories, three marks in the other two. The leader--the Award Recipient in J.D. Power lingo--was Dallas/Fort Worth International, with Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta close behind.

I travel quite a bit on business, and I have been in all 17 of the airports covered in the survey, and it more or less mirrors my own impressions.

So what's wrong with DIA? I can't really argue with the location, although it is a long way out there (a friend in Michigan said, only half joking, "Isn't DIA in Wyoming?"), but there's nothing we can do about that. There is, however, plenty we can do about the rest.

The first thing is almost a conundrum: The parking is awful, and there isn't enough of it. The long-term parking, which used to be called "economy" before it got too expensive, is too spread out and offers terrible pedestrian access to the terminal, particularly in bad weather.

The long-term parking shuttle system is a joke--not enough shuttles, and why can't they take people up to the ticket doors and down from the baggage...