page_title: Vought Airtrans
section_title: DFW bid
hierarchical_section_title: Vought Airtrans / History / DFW bid
caption_attribution_description: Airtrans Vehicle Assembly
context_page_description: LTV's Airtrans was an automated people mover system that operated at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport between 1974 and 2005. The adaptable people mover was utilized for several separate systems: the Airport Train, Employee Train, American Airlines TrAAin and utility service. All systems utilized the same guideways and vehicle base but served different stations to create various routes.
  After 30 years of service the system's 1970s technology was no longer adequate for the expanding airport's needs, and in 2005 it was replaced by the current Skylink system. While most of the system was auctioned and sold for scrap, some guideways and stations remain. Airtrans moved nearly 5 million people in its first year of operation; by the end of its life it had served over 250 million passengers.
  Airtrans technology was expected to be deployed in similar mass transit systems around the US. In Japan, the system was licensed by a consortium formed between Niigata Engineering and Sumitomo Corporation for similar deployments there.
context_section_description: The Dallas/Fort Worth Airport had recently started construction, and a people mover was one of their requirements. The airport consisted of four semi-circular terminal areas arranged in a line with large parking lots on either ends of the line, and two hotel towers in the middle. It was miles from one end to the other, so some form of rapid transit was needed to move people around the complex. DFW wanted the system to transport not only people, but mail, trash, supplies, and baggage as well. Varo Corp. had recently purchased the Monocab concept from its private developer and were pitching the system to DFW. LTV was asked to join them in a joint proposal, which was submitted late in 1970, along with two others from different providers. However, all three were over the price the airport had budgeted, and the companies were asked to re-submit.
  Varo declined, and sold their interest in Monocab to Rohr, Inc., which later re-emerged as the Rohr ROMAG. LTV decided to submit their original design for the May 1971 deadline, developing their guideway to match existing highway specifications and construction techniques as a way to lower costs. Since they had no time to develop prototype hardware, they instead backed up their proposal with an extensive computer simulation of full operations. Westinghouse and Dashaveyor (Bendix) also entered designs, but LTV's simulation proved decisive and they were announced as the winner on  2 August 1971. The contract stipulated that the system had to be operational on 13 July 1973.
  Construction of the Airtrans guideway took place almost on-schedule, which turned out to be better than the airport itself. When DFW opened in January 1974, Airtrans, which had been heralded as "people mover of the future,' quickly fell short of expectations. Originally operating between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., it worked reliably only 56 percent of the time. A more serious problem was the budget. Originally bid at $34 million, a series of problems led Vought to declare a $22.6 million loss on the project.
caption: Vehicles under construction
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