Mayor Asks Airport Train Passengers for Patience During Airport Construction

Mayor Michael Hancock has made recordings welcoming travelers to Denver and the great state of Colorado, encouraging them to enjoy the Stock Show and other events. And this past fall, a message featuring the voices of Colorado Avalanche legends Gabriel Landeskog and Erik Johnson praised Denver for its status as Hockey Capital USA, a fitting tribute for a city that’s home to the champion Avalanche, University of Denver Pioneers, Denver East Hockey squad and PeeWee Jr. Avs. But beginning on January 3, a familiar voice offered a new message:

“Welcome to Denver. This is Mayor Michael Hancock. We appreciate your patience while we’re under construction to improve our airport and make travel safer, easier and more comfortable for all of our passengers. Enjoy your time in our great state and the Mile High City.”

Finally. The recorded message marks the first time that travelers heading into the main terminal on the train are warned of the construction ahead.

“Since we have significant construction going on that causes an impact to travelers, it makes sense for the mayor to acknowledge that — that we are making improvements and to thank them for having to deal with it,” says Stephanie Figueroa, an airport spokesperson.

Fortunately, the city made a deal back in 2010 that allows the airport to change the message to make such acknowledgments. Officially known as “Train Call,” the circus-like music on the train and the recording were part of the original public-art commission that went to sound artist Jim Green, who had to authorize any changes to the recording during the airport’s first fifteen years. Realizing that more immediate message changes would be handy, the city purchased the rights from the artist a dozen years ago.

The current construction is part of the much-delayed Great Hall Project, which will modernize the airport’s approach to security. For example, new security lanes on the sixth floor will increase the airport’s capacity to process passengers by 60 percent, according to airport CEO Phil Washington. The project’s price is now pegged at over $2 billion, with an expected completion date in 2028.

The present-day iteration of the Great Hall Project is a scaled-back version of the one agreed to by the Hancock administration under the leadership of then-CEO Kim Day, a 34-year, $1.8 billion deal with a Spanish company to remodel Jeppesen Terminal. That agreement, which included a major shopping emphasis on the main floor, imploded under the pressure of delays and cost overruns, and Denver terminated the contract in August 2019.

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“Train Call” was one of the original airport art commissions.

FlyDenver

After that, the airport moved ahead with parts of the Great Hall Project under other contractors, with a focus on improving security and efficiency instead of encouraging shopping.

But in the meantime, the construction has led to a confusing experience for people attempting to navigate the terminal in recent years, with temporary wall blockades and inadequate signage. But at least Hancock’s message alerts passengers fresh off planes to what lies ahead.

“The airport wanted arriving travelers to be aware of the work being done, as there are currently many walls up, and construction in the terminal is particularly impactful at the moment,” says Mike Strott, a mayoral spokesperson.

Despite the constant construction, Denver International Airport had its busiest year in 2022, serving 69,286,461 passengers, an increase of 17.8 percent over 2021 and 0.4 percent over 2019, when it saw 69,015,703 travelers. The only airports in the country that are busier are Atlanta and Dallas.

In order to prepare for the increased passenger load, the airport is in the process of replacing the train’s cars, some of which have been in operation since the airport opened in 1995.

However, cars both old and new will continue to offer the “Hold on, please” cue of Alan Roach, the famous Colorado announcer who just worked the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.