Our Threshold for Tomorrow: DFW Airport Promotional Video (1972)

[@gregsells8549]

4:39 The airport south of the DFW site was Greater Southwest International (formerly Amon Carter Field), which had become a white elephant as it failed to relieve Dallas Love Field. It closed the day DFW opened, and all that remains is the stub of runway north of Hwy. 183. The runway south of the highway is now the route of Amon Carter Blvd which serves the development on the airport site.

[@Travis1Bickle]

Delta 9570 crash at GSW in 1972 led FAA to redefine safe following distances for airliners. The term “Heavy” designation was first used after crash investigation.

[@planesandcooking5142]

This is like someone had a crystal ball and could read the future. I am so amazed how they got so much right about the future success of that airport.

[@observer3232]

If they had a crystal ball they would have seen the hijackings and terrorism threats that necessitated have security checkpoints. And due to the circular design, instead of having a large central location to go through after leaving the ticket counter, they had to put them at every single gate, a huge expense for the airlines. They also didn't see the hub and spoke system coming down the pike.Because of the circular design DFW is a terrible connecting airport for passengers.

[@aerialbugsmasher]

@@observer3232 oh boohoo. Have you seen the centralized TSA checkpoints at other airports, ATL especially? Utter chaos on a daily basis. The lines are never that bad in DFW even in the worse days because each terminal has several. As an airline pilot DFW is the least miserable airport out of all the large hubs, bar none. And DFW has been one among the top 5 busiest airports in the world for a while by both passengers and number of operations. If it was that bad for connections, it wouldn't hold that ranking.

[@Realreal12345]

Still messed up the departure and arrivals layout. They shoulda put arrivals on the ground floor but they inverted it. Ended up having both arrivals and departures on the same floor 1 🤦‍♂️

[@nasaboyscout]

Happy birthday DFW

[@JeffK787]

An absolute delight. It is mind-boggling that DFW is bigger than Manhattan! Great airport to fly through still in 2024!

[@Gabe27100]

Very cool to see they planned on having a lot of space for expansion fifty years ago! I love vintage videos. Thanks for posting! Proud to be DFW resident since 1993!

[@FirstTravelService]

I have so many favorite airports around the world., but DFW will always be #1. It’s home. This is a brilliant video.

[@StoneColdSteveAustin316.]

This video was beautifully created during their time. OH HELL YEAHHHHHH

[@Leuel48Fan]

One of the best designed airports in the US from a logistics and location standpoint. Glad this is my home airport! ✈️

[@DFWAirport-xd2zb]

Thank you!

[@franciscodanconia4324]

They laid out the pad for a sixth terminal 52 years ago and are just now building it out. Plus adding more gates to the existing terminals A & C, validating the modular design of the terminals. DFW was planned well for the future. And there’s enough space to build at least two more terminals south of the existing ones.

[@jralcorta4748]

Interesting video 🎉

[@RTD3]

Amazing planning and it's still working and growing as predicted.

[@sunrain4820]

I’m learning my place NOW😍

[@asadlionish]

My 1st Home airport in US DFW ❤

[@DFWIntlAirport]

Thanks for traveling with us!

[@atomic32205489]

I was there when they had the big open house. It was so cool to walk around the ramp and see the planes up close. C5, L-1011 and I even took a very noisy ride in a Ford Tri-Motor. I still have the DFW Airport commemorative brochure.

[@sunrain4820]

Blessing to you all😍

[@franciscodanconia4324]

18:23 those air bridges were the neatest thing when I was a kid. Driving under a 747, how cool was that?

[@franciscodanconia4324]

14:23 ah Braniff. I remember flying out of Dallas right when they went bankrupt in the 80s and seeing a fleet of their planes grounded on an apron at the outskirts of the airport.

[@sunrain4820]

Here I am.

[@saxmanb777]

I loved riding the AirTran. Sad it couldn’t be upgraded.

[@franciscodanconia4324]

There’s an AirTran car at the railroad museum in Frisco. I’m glad they preserved one.

[@andrewsunde7915]

Amazing that they planned for so much... DFW is even bigger now than ever planned, and the metro area has filled in nicely around the airport. The airport can still grow with all that room.

[@dma124]

This all looks very nice.. unless you’ve been on a nightmare trip through DFW..

[@sunrain4820]

Tell ‘em All BYE.

[@franciscodanconia4324]

22:58 wow. Projecting 14 terminals by 2000….

[@Bsnsobscuregames]

Man euless and Irving were empty when they built DFW

[@lisasdfwhightechworld9946]

I wish I could go back to 1972 in DFW.😶

[@christiansotelo55]

​@@lisasdfwhightechworld9946imagine if time travel was possible......except even one person would screw everything up the second they get to the past.

[@franciscodanconia4324]

I was born in Dallas in the 79s but we lived up in Lucas just a little south of McKinney. It was the boondocks then and 75 was still mainly a two lane highway. Our K-12 schools was literally just one building. Now I work north of there and Lucas is just one more small suburb subsumed by everything around it.

[@franciscodanconia4324]

@@lisasdfwhightechworld9946I really miss the Texas of the 80s and 90s (and my youth) before everything grew.

[@rhntx]

@@lisasdfwhightechworld9946you can just go to terminal C

[@sunrain4820]

That’s private. Very Independent.

[@peetfj]

Great video. Beautiful airport but unfortunately it ls lacking in several areas from an operational standpoint. Finger terminals are much more efficient than the " horseshoe" designed terminals. Also, if the terminals were built much like DEN or ATL where the aircraft could exit the ramp either to the east or to the west they could get to the departure runways more expeditiously without the current long taxi which has aircraft crossing over bridges. Of course the spine roan would probably be a tunnel. It's also unfortunate that current Converging Runway Operations reduce the arrival rate but the was completely unforeseen.

[@lisasdfwhightechworld9946]

The North Central Texas Council of Governments was the entity, in a move to eliminate the hard feelings over the name of the airport, paid an advertising agency a lot of money to come up with the name "The Dallas Ft Worth Metroplex". This provided a distractor and it worked. (Ft. Worth officials had wanted "FWD" instead of "DFW").

[@mkd1964]

FWD just doesn't roll off the tongue.

[@jaxonmattox9267]

Terminal F is a disgrace to the airport and the designers who did such a wonderful job with the previous terminals

[@rhntx]

Parts of this video did not age well So much for the park down the middle and the ‘high speed train’ down the middle and the huge cargo complex and planners had no clue about the future terrorism that would create a barrier between the land side and airside that said it was a fun walk down memory lane

[@sunrain4820]

NO we not doing no more business together ever again.