On the secured side of DFW Airport, business is booming.
Concessionaires are raking in money as travelers waiting for their flights dine at fine restaurants and buy nice clothes. The airport, which is jointly owned by the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, expects to bring in $97.7 million in concessions revenue in fiscal year 2020 — and revenue from October alone was up 4.3 percent compared to the same month last year.
But on the unsecured side of DFW’s five passenger terminals, it’s a different story. There, a handful of store owners sell small items such as coffee, magazines and neck pillows to passers-by near DFW’s baggage claim conveyor belts and airline ticket counters.
On the unsecured side, almost nobody is buying much of anything.
“These locations are under-performing, and some are only realizing $200 to $300 a day,” Ken Buchanan, DFW executive vice president of revenue management, told airport board members Tuesday during a committee meeting.
That’s barely enough money to pay a single employee.
“In many cases,” Buchanan added, “they’re losing money because we require them to be open 16 hours a day.”
To address the problem, airport board members on Thursday are expected to approve a measure that allows the business owners outside the secured area to close their shops without penalty, even if they are still under lease.
The stores that may be offered a voluntary exit from the airport include:
USA Today Travel Zone, Ruta Maya, Terminal A Gate 14
Southwest News, A34
Sierra News, Ruta Maya, B7
Hudson News, Daily Java B28
Hudson News, Dunkin Donuts, E5
Southwest News, LaCreme, E14
Southwest News, LaCreme, E37
The closures, if approved by the board, likely won’t occur immediately.
Also, store owners who don’t wish to leave may stay through the period of their individual lease, airport officials said.
Owners of the stores involved could not immediately be reached for comment.
Zenola Campbell, DFW vice president of concessions, said after Tuesday’s committee that if any of the stores take up the offer to voluntarily close DFW probably will not rush to fill the vacancies. Instead, she said, airport officials will take a broader look at what the retail needs are on the unsecured side of each terminal.
“I think we’ll take a step back, and work on what makes the most sense,” she said.
How we got here
DFW Airport used to be a renowned place for shopping, people-watching and cocktail sipping — even for North Texans who would hang out at the airport with no intention of flying that day.
But after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, it was no longer possible for the public to enter the terminals’ secured areas without an airplane ticket, an employee credential or a Transportation Security Agency escort.
To cater to patrons who needed to spend time in the unsecured areas — perhaps for people who were at DFW only to pick up or drop off a traveler, or perhaps check on a lost bag — DFW created a small number of concessions storefronts.
But over time, airport officials have noticed that the concessions on the unsecured side simply aren’t convenient for travelers, and aren’t needed by most non-travelers.
Campbell cited a variety of likely reasons for the change.
For one, TSA has gotten really good at keeping security lines moving. In most cases, passengers spend less than 10 minutes in line at a checkpoint. So on most days there aren’t many people milling about in the unsecured areas, other than those waiting their turn at airline ticket counters.
Also, TSA rules prohibit most liquids in the security line — so, if you buy a 20-ounce Coca-Cola at an unsecured concession stand but can’t chug it before passing through the checkpoint, you will probably have to throw that otherwise-perfectly good soda in the trash.
“We’ve got 15 or 16 checkpoints, and we can no longer bring bottled beverages in (through security), and when people get here they are ready to go inside,” Campbell said.
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