Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Pet hotel coming to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Pets,

Good news for pets – and their people – who travel via Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The airport will soon put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a 24-hour Pet Hotel and Resort on the airport’s west side. DFW airport has received more than two dozen informal inquiries about setting up such a service. Now, officials say, the RFP should be issued this fall and a contract awarded by the end of the year.

Pet hotels are already in operation on the grounds of, or nearby, many other airports. More airport pet hotels are in the works. The most elaborate set-up I’ve seen is on the grounds of Montreal– Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport. When I visited Manoir Kanisha in early July seeking travel advice for Joplin, a service dog I was picking up for a friend, I saw dogs, cats, birds and even rabbits relaxing on pampered pet-vacations.

DFW gets Best Buy; air travelers get play tickets

Shopping, ,

I’m a big fan of skipping the mall and doing all my shopping at the airport. So I’m pleased to see that Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) now has two automated Best Buy stores (a.k.a. vending machines) selling electronic products and accessories all at prices that match the Best Buy stores on the street. (Find them in Terminal B, Gate 29 and Terminal E, Gate 32).

(Photo taken 7/29/08 by Brian Murnahan – DFW International Airport)

Even more intriguing, a Toronto-based company called GuestLogix has announced the launch of an on-board Broadway ticketing service on flights to the New York area. The system may go live on-board a major North American airline by late summer 2008.

According to the company press release, “Airline flight attendants equipped with GuestLogix’ proprietary wireless devices will complete ticket sales and print vouchers to be redeemed for seat assignments at Broadway theater box offices.”

DFW scores a touchdown

Sports

On Monday, at Big 12 media days in Kansas City, Mo, Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach told reporters that he thought DFW airport was “a confusing mess.” Connecting to Lubbock through the smaller Love Field, he said, was a better option for those hoping to interview his team’s two Heisman Trophy candidates.

As you might imagine, that comment didn’t sit too well with the folks at DFW. So airport officials sent out an open letter inviting Leach to stop by for a visit. The letter said “Your comments hit home because we’re very proud of DFW — and most of us are big time college football fans!” and went on to offer the coach and his family a complimentary flight to DFW on American Airlines, a tour of the facilities, and a steak dinner.

Coach Leach called the invitation a “thoughtful gesture” and said he might have time to stop by next December.

The Dallas News has all the details.

Tattoos – and more – at DFW AIRPORT

Entertainment,

I’ve got a long list of services and amenities I’d like to see offered at airports. Speed-dating and remedial classes in packing are on the list.

And so is tattooing.

Which is why I was tickled to see that, along with a jazz trio and an Uncle Sam on stilts, the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) hired an air brush artist to paint tattoos on some of the 1.1 million passengers expected to pass through the airport this holiday weekend.

Photo taken by Sarah McDaniel-Langhorst of DFW International Airport staff.

Tour DFW’s art program – from home

Art

The folks at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) have been busy beautifying their Web site with spiffy new tools for travelers.

Highly useful: The interactive maps (check out the panoramic tour of -an empty -Terminal D) and the updated at-a-glance list of services (note that there’s free power and free wired Internet at Gates A20 and B35).

Most enjoyable: The lovely close-ups views of the medallions and other artwork in the airport’s multi-million dollar public art program.

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(Christopher Janney’s “Circling” courtesy DFW Airport)

Love that airport food?

Food

At Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, you just might. Chef Tim Love, the guy who wears a cowboy hat instead of a toque and who is known as “the foremost pioneer of urban Western cuisine,” has brought his tasty fare to DFW airport – in grab ‘n go form.

HMS Host is featuring Chef Love’s creations at the recently opened Z Market in Terminal B.  The shop blends convenience store with upscale western-deli. In addition to sandwiches, salads and gourmet entrees, the offerings include a wide assortment of natural snacks such as gluten-free fudge brownies, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, and organic healthy hemp bagels.

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Photo courtesy DFW airport

Candy is dandy… especially at the airport

Food

One way to stay healthy when flying from one side of the country to another is to make sure you eat good food along the way. It’s getting easier to find healthy options at many airport restaurants and food-courts, but I still make sure to carry cut-up veggies, protein bars, and nuts and raisins in my purse.

But sometimes you need a little something sweet and sinful. So I’m pleased to learn that two new branches of the award-winning Natalie’s Candy Bar have opened at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). In addition to the hard-to-miss original location in Terminal D (Gate 16), there are now branches of these colorful candy stores in Terminals A and B.

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Photo courtesy: Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

Sleep-over at DFW! You bring the s’mores.

Delays, Safety,

American Airlines canceled another 500 flights on Tuesday to check a wiring issue on their fleet of MD-80 airplanes. 193 of those canceled flights were scheduled to depart from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Some displaced travelers have been put up at hotels. Others got out of there on non-MD-80 flights. Still, a lot of people are spending the night stuck at the airport.

Luckily the folks at DFW are prepared for this sort of thing. They’re treating this incident like a weather event and have brought out cots, blankets, diapers, formula and other sleep-over necessities.

They’ve also put their emergency “concession plan” into operation: a few bars are staying open until 2 a.m. and a few restaurants will stay open all night.

Let’s just hope no one starts in with those scary ghost stories…

Dutch Chocolate and High Tea at DFW

Food

It should be quite a scene this Sunday (March 30th) at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport when they celebrate new service to London Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol Airports.

For folks arriving from Amsterdam, they’ll be authentic Dutch klompendansers, Dutch coffee, chocolates and a giant windmill cake. For those arriving from Heathrow, it will be English teas and snacks.
The planned entertainment sounds yummy too: a Beatles cover band and impersonators of Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Guardsmen, and Dutch maids.

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Sweaters, everyone

Events, History, USA Today,

I’m tickled to be doing a guest stint this week and next writing the Airport Check-In column over at USA TODAY.

This week’s topics include the re-freshed exhibits at the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and, for those celebrating “Won’t You Be My Neighbor Days” a reminder that there’s a Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood exhibit at Pittsburgh International Airport.

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Photo: Family Communications