Behind the Scenes at DFW
When most people think about airports, they think about taking off, landing, and getting to their destination. What most people do not think about—or even know about, for that matter—is all the behind-the-scenes work it takes to get a plane to its destination. Every minute detail at an airport is mapped and planned out to ensure passengers are safe and have a smooth traveling experience. On Tuesday, March 8th, I was lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes tour of one of the biggest airports in the world: Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Not only is DFW one of the busiest airports—ranking fifth in terms of passenger traffic—but it is also one the largest, boasting seven runways and five passenger terminals. All told, it is the size of Manhattan in its geographic footprint.
I first entered DFW at the Airport Operations Center (AOC) where I met Dustin, an airfield operations worker. At the time that I was visiting, DFW had two airfield operations personnel on each side of the airfield and multiple assistants helping them. During my tour, the airport was in northflow, which means that departing airplanes left from the two inboard runways (35L and 36R) and arriving planes arrived on the outboard runways (35C, 36L, and 31R). The inboard runways refer to the two closest runways to the terminals, and the outboard runways refer to those not as close to the terminal. DFW’s two newest runways (18R/36L and 17C/35C) have temperature sensors in the runways themselves that measure conditions—whether that be the presence of ice or water. This is extremely important because, these metrics help evaluate if the runway is operational or not.
We started our tour on the east side of the airport and saw many planes waiting for de-icing on the southeast pad in front of runway 35L. (I visited in March, and temperatures were around 40°). Not all the planes were getting de-iced before takeoff, as captains themselves decide whether or not to de-ice their plane depending on altitude and air pressure.
American Airlines planes waiting for de-icing on the southeast pad
After the de-icing, we drove in an airport operations car from the east side across the terminal to the west side. On the west side we saw more planes waiting on the southwest pad for de-icing and for takeoff on 36R. While driving past, we saw the DFW Fire Department training on a mock Airbus A380 on the west side of the airfield. These training sessions are held nearly daily at the Fire Training Research Facility. Because of this, we saw smoke at the southwest end of the airport. These training sessions do not just entail putting the fire out; firefighters have to carry 200+ pound mannequins off the airplane to simulate a real person’s safe exit. There are certain standards, like response time, that the fire department has to abide by from the FAA to ensure the safety of passengers Because DFW is so large, there are multiple fire stations which ensures the first fire truck can arrive at a runway in under three minutes and the second one in under four minutes. Not only do the DFW airport firefighters put out fire, but they also train firefighters from around the globe. Since 2012, the Fire Training Research Facility has trained over 32,000 firefighters from 54 different countries. In case of an emergency, DFW’s fire department is adequately prepared to ensure the safety of everyone passing through.
DFW Airport Fire Department Training on a Mock Airbus A380
We were then able to stop and see the slew of aircrafts landing on runway 36L. Even though it was a cloudy day, I saw the landing lights of multiple planes on approach to the runway. It was incredible to see the landings up close! Dustin pointed out the PAPI lights on the side of the runway. PAPI, which stands for precision approach path indicator, are lights positioned beside the runway which provide pilots with a visual indicator of their aircraft's position relative to the correct glidepath for the runway, helping them make a smooth and precise landing.
We then drove by the west cargo section at DFW, which at the time had two 777-Fs getting loaded up. During the day, DFW expects little cargo traffic, but at night DFW has cargo flights departing and arriving at all times. Because of this, DFW never fully closes and always has at least one operational runway. There is also always one airport operations personnel on the airfield at all times to make sure the airport is safe. They use a special machine to do inspections of the runway. It takes them about two hours to inspect all seven runways at DFW. These inspections make sure there is no debris left by tires still on the airfield, and makes sure that the runways are safe and operational.
Another feature of DFW is the end-around, a relatively new airport feature. An end-around is a taxiway for airplanes to taxi after landing. Instead of crossing an active runway to get to their designated terminal, the airplane taxis on an end-around, which goes around the runway instead of crossing an active runway. This reduces the (already low) chances of airport collisions. DFW has multiple end-arounds on the east side of the airfield and currently has end-arounds in front of Runways 35L, 35C, and 17R. DFW is also in the process of completing an end-around at runway 17C. These end-arounds help the airport land more planes, increasing airport revenue.
There is construction underway to add a high-speed end-around for runway 35C/17C. This new end-around will be completed in the next few months, and during my visit I was able to view the construction and all the progress they have made. A high-speed end-around means that aircraft landing on the runway can exit the runway at a faster speed. This is because, instead of making the turn of the runway a full turn, the new high-speed end-around allows aircraft to exit the runway at a diagonal angle at a faster speed.
The construction for the new high-speed end-around which should be completed in the next few months.
Due to DFW’s size, there are three operational control towers: one each on the west side, east side, and center. The east side tower controls all the airplanes departing and arriving on the east side of the airfield and the west tower controls all the aircraft movements on the westside of the airfield. The center tower is operational, but not used functionally anymore, unless something were to happen to either the east or west tower. In this event, employees would be able to go work in the central tower instead.
A final aspect of the airport that many have heard of but might not know much about is bird strikes. While driving around, we saw some birds around a taxiway and Dustin used a special horn to scare them away. He said it was migration season, and for the next month birds would be passing through the airport for their migration northward. He also said DFW has two full-time animal control workers whose job is to keep the airport safe without hurting the wildlife.
Given the size of DFW’s airport, it took my tour over an hour to circumnavigate the airport and see all these features in operation. What I noticed is all the people involved in helping the airport run smoothly. It takes a lot of work and preparation, but also a lot of adaptability, as plans are constantly shifting. DFW has many systems in place, from the control towers, fire stations, and end-arounds to help this busy airport function. Additionally, it has countless people employed to get passengers to their destination. It is much more of a complex operation than people may think or see in their travels—taking off, landing, and getting to their destination.
