Three Airlines Battle for Denver Market Share

United, Frontier and Southwest go head-to-head-to-head to prevail in Denver

When Denver International Airport was being built for a scheduled opening in October 1993, it seemed as if a rivalry between United and Continental was shaping up. Both hubbed at Stapleton International Airport and seemed destined to engage in a fierce two-way battle for originating and connecting service in the America's new mid-country airport. Continental staked its claim to Concourse A (and built a huge Club there), United took Concourse B and other carriers were relegated to Concourse C -- the stubby one without moving walkways or much in the way of shopping or food service.

By the time the airport actually opened on February 28, 1995 (a date that can be described as "almost March"), Houston-based Continental decided against a Denver hub. Since DIA opened, it has only been possible to fly nonstop only to Houston, Cleveland and Newark. For a time, United all but monopolized the Denver skies. Then, a reincarnated, Denver-based Frontier Airlines hubbed in Denver, and for a long time, anyone flying Frontier to or from anyplace had to start, end or change planes in Denver. Locals built up a powerful loyalty to low-fare Frontier, which became David of Denver battling United the Goliath.

Southwest took notice and steadily began increasing its DIA presence too, eroding Frontier's position as DIA's leading low-fare airline. Frontier began struggling and sank into bankruptcy. If Southwest's play for Frontier had succeeded, that would have catapulted it into a more powerful position against United. But Republic Aviation ultimately took over Frontier, promising to keep its identity and its Denver hub.

What has developed most recently is a three-way came of airline one-upmanship, with United, Frontier and Southwest battling for Denver. There has been a rash of new route announcements. In mid-December, in time for holiday business and the ski season, United will be starting two daily roundtrip flights to Midland, Texas, and one to Louisville, Kentucky-- the only carrier with nonstops from Denver on both routes, SkyWest, a United partner, will fly these routes with 50-seat CRJ-200 regional jets.

The Denver Business Journal recently commented that "United’s announcement came 12 days after Dallas-based Southwest unveiled non-stop service from [Denver] to Boston, Reno, Nev. and Spokane, Wash., beginning in January. And it came just eight days after Denver-based Frontier said it would begin non-stop flights to Fort Myers, Fla. and increase the frequency of flights between [Denver] and Tampa, Fla., starting in November."

How nice to have a real choice once again -- at least domestically. When the economy picks up, some of us hope that the "International" will be put back into "Denver International Airport."

Gold Hill & Black Hawk: A Study in Contrast

Two old mining towns in the foothills have different visions of their future

Black Hawk, Colorado -- founded 1859; incorporated 1886; population (2000 census), 118
Gold Hill, Colorado -- founded 1859, unincorporated, population (2000 census), 210

As both of these historic mining towns in the foothills west of Denver/Boulder close out their mutual sesquicentennial year, they have been in the news lately for other reasons. Gold Hill residents made their passionate desire to remain laid-back, rural and anchored to the 19th century known. The Boulder County Commissioners listened to them and just voted against paving 1 1/2 miles of Sunshine Canyon Road leading into Gold Hill. Commercial business in Gold Hill is pretty much limited to the Gold Hill Inn (a restaurant), the neighboring Blue Bird Lodge (seasonal) and the local Mercantile. The Climb is a not-for-profit shuttle linking Gold Hill with Boulder, 10 miles to the east.

Black Hawk was forever changed after 1990, when Colorado voters passed a constitutional amendment permitting limited stakes gambling in three struggling old mining and mill towns: Black Hawk and Central City, one mile apart west of Denver, and Cripple Creek, west of Colorado Springs. Revenues were to go to historic preservation, but the result was the disappearance of small local businesses serving dwindling populations and visitors who came in search of old Colorado.

Of the two Glipin County communities, Central City initially restrained itself to small storefront casinos, while Black Hawk blasted away steep hillsides to permit the construction far larger casino/hotels, each accommodating more people than the town's population. For years, big casino shuttle buses have been rumbling through Clear Creek Canyon, hauling gamblers from the Front Range to the slots.

Last year, Colorado voters blew the lid of limited stakes gambling, raising the top wager from $5 to $100. Tables replaced many of the slots. Casinos could remain open 24/7. And Black Hawk went wild. How was a constitutional amendment intended to encourage and fund historic preservation perverted to permit a high-rise casino/hotel? I have no answers, but I do know that the Godzilla-like Ameristar Casino Black Hawk now looms the little mining town. Here are some numbers: 33 stories, 536 hotel rooms and suites, 15,000 square feet of meeting space, spa, rooftop swimming pool, $235 million cost to build by Las Vegas-based Ameristar Casinos. Unlike Gold Hill's quest for sustainability, community and survival, Black Hawk in general and Ameristar in particular have only one goal: profit.


The backstory: Central City and Black Hawk rode the crest of Colorado's first mining boom gold was discovered in Gregory Gulch. When richer mines were developed elsewhere, the towns declined, and after a time, abandoned buildings and empty houses peppered the old mining district. Without the Central City Opera which performs seasonally and the Gilpin County offices, Central City would have become a ghost town, sweeping Black Hawk with it.

When gambling was approved, historic storefronts were restored, floors were shored up to support heavy slot machines and modest casinos opened. As Black Hawk bent the historic preservation rules to permit the construction of larger casinos, the smaller ones closed, and empty storefronts line town streets. Now comes the high-rise Ameristar. What will happen if and when its promise is unfulfilled, if it doesn't pay back that $235 investment, if it closes? A vacant 33-story shell would join the old mills, old mines and old storefronts telling of Black Hawk's boom and bust cycle.

Meanwhile, I'm making a bet too: My bet is that no matter what happens to Black Hawk, Gold Hill will happily survive, even without a paved road leading to it.

United's Most Recent Dishonor

One expert ranks it the worst of the worst

"Worst. Airline. Ever." read the online headline of an article in the Washington Post travel section. Could it be some Congolese airline? The Democratic Republic of Congo has reportedly been the site of more than half of the air accidents in Africa, according to the African Airlines Association -- eight last year alone, according to Reuters. The most recent was the crash of a domestic Congolese airliner on April 15, in which 70 people were killed.

Or perhaps Air Sudan is the worst. On June 10, an Airbus 320 veered off the runway and burst into flames, killing about half of the 214 people on board, according to a CNN report, adding, "Sudan has a poor aviation safety record. In May, a plane crash in a remote area of southern Sudan killed 24 people, including key members of the southern Sudanese government. In July 2003, a Sudan Airways Boeing 737 en route from Port Sudan to Khartoum crashed soon after takeoff, killing all 115 people on board."

No, not those. I clicked on the "Worst" link and landed on a feature by portfolio.com's Joe Brancatelli. He wasn't taking disaster-prone African carriers into account, but he fingered United as "the worst of the worst on the slag heap of the nation's big network carriers."

He listed the reasons behind his selection: 4 percent decline in passenger traffic in May; it plan ground 100 aircraft and reduce capacity by 10 percent; lay off thousands of more workers; rejection by potential merger partners; stock that traded a 52-week high of more than $50 plummeted into the single digits; deteriorating inflight services; permanent grounding of its no-frills Ted brand is being closed, the airline's second expensive failure in the low-cost arena this decade; overall on-time performance at a dismal 72.7 percent in April; crushing debt, and a screwy fleet flying all sorts of airplanes -- "26 separate in-flight seat configurations. It dabbled in everything from the upmarket P.S. to the downmarket Ted. It had five types of narrow-body jets, four types of wide-body aircraft and eight flavors of regional jets. Travelers were confronted with flights outfitted with an ever-shifting mix of one, two, three, or even four classes."

I really take no joy in United's miseries. I have nearly 200,000 miles on United's MileagePlus frequent-flyer program which keep building up because they are so difficult to use. I've given my son a couple of hundred thousand miles over the years, but I've never managed to redeem them for a transatlantic flight in any class of service, even changing planes several times, any time my husband and I wanted to travel. I'd better try again -- before United goes under.

UNESCO World Heritage List Gains 27 Sites

More locations for the intrepid traveler's must-see list

"Extinction is Forever" is a mantra often repeated by preservationists of the natural world and promoters of biodiversity. There should be a corollary for the natural and man-made treasures along the lines of "Destruction is Forever." Sure, nay-sayers can quibble and claim that destroyed buildings and cities can be reconstructed and damaged land can be destroyed, but its never the same.

The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO is the United Nations agency charged with identifying helping to protect, preserve and stabilize the world's most treasured landscapes and landmarks. It has just added 27 sites to its list. Nineteen are identified as cultural sites and eight as natural sites, bringing the total to 878 sites (679 cultural, 174 natural, 25 mixed) in 145 countries. The 2008 additions are:

New Cultural Sites

Preah Vihear Temple (Cambodia)
Fujian Tulou (China)
Stari Grad Plain (Croatia)
Historic Centre of Camagüey (Cuba)
Fortifications of Vauban (France)
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates (Germany)
Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iran (Iran)
Baha’i Holy Places in Haifa and Western Galilee (Israel)
Mantua and Sabbioneta (Italy)
The Mijikenda Kaya Forests (Kenya)
Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia)
Protective town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús de Nazareno de Atotonilco (Mexico)
Le Morne Cultural Landscape (Mauritius)
Kuk Early Agricultural Site (Papua New Guinea)
San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano (San Marino)
Archaeological Site of Al-Hijr (Madâin Sâlih) (Saudi Arabia)
The Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of Carpathian Mountain Area (Slovakia)
Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Cultural Landscape (Switzerland and Italy)
Chief Roi Mata's Domain (Vanuatu)

Natural Properties

Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Canada)
Mount Sanqingshan National Park (China)
Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems (France)
Surtsey (Iceland)
Saryarka - Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (Mexico)
Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona (Switzerland)
Socotra Archipelago (Yemen)

Extensions Added Onto Properties Already on the World Heritage List

Historic centres of Berat and Gjirokastra (Albania)
Mountain Railways of India
Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain
The Antonine Wall (United Kingdom)

UNESCO’s World Heritage List now numbers a total of 878 sites( 679 cultural, 174 natural, 25 mixed) in 145 countries. Papua New Guinea; San Marino, Saudi Arabia and Vanuatu have sites inscribed on the list for the first time.

Colorado's First Snow of the Season, 9/21/09

Skiers and snowboarders celebrate Colorado's first snow of the season

The snowbirds are already shivering in their shoes, but skiers and snowboarders are cheering the arrival of the season's first snow in Colorado's high country. Above is a photo taken at Copper Mountain yesterday morning (Monday, September 21). Denver television 10:00 p.m. news last night carried such reports as snow-hungry locals in nearby Breckenridge seen around town in their ski duds, carrying their boards, and Loveland fired up its snow guns yesterday (below). And this morning's newspapers printed first-snow-of-the-season pictures too. It's a perpetual early-opening ski area -- historically often the first in the nation, in fact.


If you are eager to follow the Colorado snow, sign up for Colorado Ski Country USA's snow report that will be E-mailed to you every day. Vail Resorts Inc. is not a CSCUSA member, so for reports from Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone, download VRI's be-the-first-to-know desktop snow alert. Some resorts send out individual snow conditions blasts via E-mail or to iPhones and/or maintain Twitter accounts. Other ski states and ski resorts have similar services, but I'm in Colorado, and yesterday's snowfall reports were what I fell asleep to and woke up to.

Tour de France is About Sport & Scenery

Cable telecast showcases elite cyclists and doubles as travelogue around France

My husband and I spend three weeks in France every July -- all courtesy of global television. The 95th Tour de France is again a broadcast tour de force -- a three-week telethon around France. This year's Tour began yesterday (Saturday) July 5 in Brittany and will conclude in Paris on Sunday, July 27. The 21 stages will cover 3,500 kilometers past farmland, forests, vineyards, villages, provincial cities, castles, cathedrals, chateaux, coastlines and most thrilling of all, the soaring Alps and Pyrenees.

No matter that the incomparable Lance Armstrong has retired, what doping scandals have hit pro cycling or which teams are in and out, the travelogue part is a thrill. Versus, the current name for the cable channel that used to be OLN, covers the major stage races in Europe and the US, but none is so captivating to travelers as the Tour de France coverage. We watched the Tour of California (lots of rain and lots of transmission difficulties) and the Vuelta d'Espana and the Giro d'Italia, and none showcased the scenery as well as the Tour de France. Regardless of who wins, we will have been on our annual (vicarious) trip to France and enjoyed every bit of the journey.

National Parks, Part II

An up-to-the-minute website and a great guidebook series spotlight our parks

Yesterday, I wrote a potpourri post that started with a description and photos from a just completed hike in Rocky Mountain National Park and ended with a plea to participate in National Public Lands Day coming up this Saturday. Here are two invaluable national parks information resources:

National Parks Traveler Website

National Parks Traveler does an excellent job of balancing breaking news, advocacy and visitor information to the country's 391 National Park Service-administered sites. The two most recent posts, as I write this, involved Teddy Roosevelt, one a report about a kerfuffle raised about the proposed addition of 12,000 acres of ranchland in and near Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota to the National Register of Historic Places and the other visitor information to Theodore Roosevelt Island, a hidden gem in Washington, D.C. I have this site on my blogroll so that I check it often.

Lonely Planet Guidebooks

There are all sorts of guidebook series out there. Many of them are very good, but my favorites are Lonely Planet's, which relaunched earlier this year with four North American gems: Yosemite, Sequoia & King’s Canyon National Parks, California; Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Wyoming; Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, and Banff, Jasper and Glacier National Parks in Canada. I wonder whether they are planning Rocky Mountain too.

Features of the Lonely Planet parks guides include:

•New full-color highlights section shows the best of the parks at a glance, with stunning photographs, author tips and a clear map.
•Detailed itineraries help visitors plan their time, whether they’re exploring well-loved sights, traversing back-country terrain or driving around the region.
•More than 40 hikes in every book, which is scratching the surface of what these parks have to offer but is more than most visitors will do in a week. Follow in the footsteps of LP authors on easy hikes, day hikes and backcountry hikes. Topographical hiking maps accompany the tricky routes, and reformatted hiking charts make it easy to compare hikes and select your favorite.
•New chapters. "Kids & Pets" with information for families, such as the best hikes for the little ones, and advice for pet-owners -- key since travelers won't go anywhere without their pooches but except for service dogs, canines are generally prohibited anywhere but parking lots and perhaps campgrounds . "Clothing & Equipment" with essential information for hikers and campers. "History and Environment" give visitors vital background information on the parks’ past and present.
•Opinionated descriptions of campgrounds large and small, modern and primitive--and an easy-to-reference camping chart to compare features and facilities of each. Plus the trustworthy reviews of other accommodations, restaurants and sights in or near the parks that you come to expect of a Lonely Planet guide.
•A range of other activities including cycling trails, driving routes, climbing, swimming, rafting, skiing, hang-gliding and more.
•Sustainable options and green travel ideas throughout. A “Support Your National Park” feature gives information on how to give back to the parks and promotes sustainability and volunteering.