Community and business leaders around North Texas anticipate major economic advantages from expansion plans and a sixth terminal at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
DFW Airport and American Airlines have revived plans to invest up to $5 billion in terminal improvements, including the construction of Terminal F and enhancements to Terminals A and C, The Dallas Express reported earlier this week.
Updated expansion plans were revealed in internal documents presented during a May 4 Board Meeting that listed a new Use and Lease Agreement between the airport and American Airlines that would go into effect on October 1 and last 10 years.
Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce President Michael Jacobson sees the airport’s future expansion as a major opportunity to grow the local economy and attract visitors.
“We bring in about 16 million visitors a year. We have a roadmap to increase the number dramatically,” said Jacobson, reported CBS News. “We got the World Cup coming here in 2026,” he added.
For Jacobson, expanding DFW Airport is a way to ensure a steady stream of visitors and money to Arlington’s many top-tier venues and tourist attractions.
“They’re so hugely important to us. Whether it’s Taylor Swift bringing 90,000 people a night for three nights. We constantly have a flow, but to make that work you’ve got to have the ability to get people here,” Jacobson said.
Excitement for the long-awaited airport expansion has been building since 2019, when the sixth terminal was first announced.
“We look forward to accommodating the continued growth of our city and the region through infrastructure improvements and expansion at DFW Airport,” former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said in the original announcement.
“We’re glad to see DFW’s anchor carrier, American Airlines, headquartered in Fort Worth, collaborate with the Airport to take this area to new heights,” Price said. “This new terminal will further fuel economic development and job growth in our region.”
Fast forward to the present day, and the positive economic sentiment is still being spread around communities and business circles in North Texas.
“Every business is a global business these days, so DFW, and the benefits of its expansion are going to be very broad,” Michael Davis, a professor of business at SMU and an expert in economic theory, told CBS.
“I think you always worry about congestion but in our case, I think that’s much less of a problem than you will see than almost any other city in the world,” said Davis.
“The new Terminal F and the expansion that could follow will provide the region with the growth it needs to compete with international business centers,” said Sean Donohue, CEO of DFW Airport, in the original 2019 announcement from the airport.
“The Airport is growing faster than ever, and it needs to keep pace with the Dallas-Fort Worth economy to provide jobs and connections for businesses and families.”
