Denver - one of the worst set up airports that I have had the misfortune of flying into. I was trying to get a bus from the terminal to the rental car area (even the "on airport" companies are located several miles trom the main terminal.) I stood at the designated stop, but all of the buses were full and wouldn't stop. I finally walked most of the distance along the front of the terminal (unshaded and in the summer heat) until I got to the first terminal stop and managed to squeeze onto a bus.
No wonder that so many of the airlins servicing Denver have filed bankruptcy.
It is an airport that I avoid.
I completely agree with you. Additionally, it was sold to the voters at ~$1 billion and ended up costing more than $5 billion, which works out to more than $1000 for every man, woman, and child in the state of Colorado. The fine marble, vast polished granite slabs, etc, are monuments to the immense waste of taxpayer dollars.
It also represents a sorry first in history in having caused the first fully functioning airport (Stapleton) to be shut down for purely political reasons, namely, to force traffic to DIA. As soon as the baggage-mangling, uh, handling machines got working, they couldn't destroy the runways of Stapleton fast enough. Nevermind the possible need for that airport in the future.
That said, the fact remains that the three-letter FAA abbreviation for a given airport is not the only way it is referred to by the public, including by public officials.