Executives from American Airlines Inc. and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport hosted a first look at the Terminal A pier expansion on Oct. 21. Four of the terminal’s 10 gates — five new and five rebuilt — are now open, with the rest debuting ahead of the coming holiday travel period.
The pier area is a 140,000-square-foot perpendicular addition to the existing Terminal A structure and is located directly under the north Skylink station. The pier was assembled from seven separate modules that were constructed away from the terminal and transported across the airfield at night to minimize disruption to flight operations.
The method was also used for the recent expansion of Terminal C and is being used in the construction of the new Terminal F at the south end of the airport.
Jim Moses, American Airlines senior vice president of DFW hub operations, said the remodeled Terminal A is the future, with electronic boarding gates, large windows for natural lighting and power receptacles at every seat.
Jim Moses, American Airlines senior vice president of DFW hub operations, answers questions in the new Terminal A pier expansion at DFW Airport. (Doug Wilhelm for the Fort Worth Report)
With the expansion, it is set to become American’s busiest terminal at DFW, eventually hosting over 225 daily departures.
“The Terminal A pier allows us to shift departures out of Terminal C, which is undergoing a complete reconstruction,” Moses said.
DFW Airport is American’s largest hub and has an outsized impact in their network, Moses said.
“So when our customers are coming through here, they’re noticing that we are building for the future,” he added.
Kenneth Buchanan, DFW Airport’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer, said focus groups and customer feedback informed the expansion’s design.
“They told us they want more local, they want more experiences coming out of Dallas and Fort Worth and the region,” he said.
To that end, south Dallas nonprofit Bonton Farms has opened two markets in the Terminal A area offering snacks, drinks, grab-and-go food items and merchandise from its two operating farms and coffee house. In a nod to Fort Worth, its grab-and-go items are supplied by the restaurant Lettuce Cook on White Settlement Road.
Kenneth Buchanan, DFW Airport executive vice president and chief revenue officer, speaks at the unveiling of the new Terminal A pier expansion. (Doug Wilhelm for the Fort Worth Report)
Other concessions include Mesero, an upscale Mexican restaurant found in The Shops at Clearfork and across the metroplex; MAD Greens; and nationally recognized brands such as P.F. Chang’s, Auntie Anne’s and a Chick-fil-A open 24 hours Monday through Saturday.
Buchanan told the Fort Worth Report that the national franchises on-site are nevertheless all owned by local, small businesses that will be exposed to hundreds of thousands of customers.
“DFW Airport is the economic engine of this region,” he said. “A great airport supports great cities, and the amount of opportunities that we’re able to provide to the communities of North Texas is just phenomenal.”
Doug Wilhelm is a member of the Fort Worth Report Documenters crew and a freelance writer.
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