DFW International Airport heads into the busy holiday travel season with a new CEO at the helm.
Chris McLaughlin was named to the position last spring.
“This truly, for me, is the opportunity of a lifetime,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin takes the reins at a time of unprecedented change for DFW. The airport, already the world’s third busiest, has embarked on a $12 billion capital improvement plan.
“We are working on quite literally all of our buildings, our public-facing buildings, at the same time, including the road that goes through the terminals,” McLaughlin explained.
DFW’s transformation includes an extreme makeover of Terminal C. Built more than 50 years ago, it is the airport’s oldest.
“We’re currently demoing it and rebuilding it one-third at a time. Because we’re so busy, we can’t afford to just take a terminal out of service like some airports do. Our only option was to truly deconstruct and reconstruct the building while we’re operating out of it,” McLaughlin said.
The airport is also in the process of constructing the all-new Terminal F. McLaughlin calls it a game-changer.
When it’s complete, Terminal F will have 31 gates and its own customs facility.
“This truly sets us up for the 2030s and beyond,” he said.
Looking further into the future, McLaughlin believes travelers will eventually be able to take an air taxi to DFW.
“The air taxi movement is definitely going to happen,” he said. “McLaughlin also believes supersonic travel, gone since the retirement of the Concorde, will make a comeback.
McLaughlin says he is always looking to the future.
“What do we leave for the next generation?” he said. “How do we make sure that DFW continues to benefit the generations that will follow this one right here today?”
As the airport’s new CEO, job one for McLaughlin is finding the answer.