Airlines continue to feel pressure from the Iran War,\u00a0 DFW International Airport CEO Chris McLaughlin told board members at their May 7 meeting.<\/p>\n
McLaughlin attributed airfare increases to the price and availability of jet fuel, as well as lingering supply chain issues.<\/p>\n
The most significant industry impact has been the recent Spirit Airlines shutdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOur heart goes out to the thousands of men and women who have had their careers impacted by this bankruptcy,\u201d McLaughlin said. \u201cMany of them work right here at DFW, and we know many of them personally. We meet with them on a regular basis, and we consider them our family.\u201d<\/p>\n While the effect on Spirit was extreme, all airlines are feeling the pressure, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing both domestic and international carriers reevaluate routes, timing, frequencies, and that is having some impact on DFW,\u201d McLaughlin said.<\/p>\n The airport is experiencing a reduction in the number of passengers. Halfway through this fiscal year, total passenger count is down 2.3% against previous forecasts, or 1 million fewer travelers than the 41.8 million projected to date.<\/p>\n This reduction has a negative effect on passenger-driven revenues such as parking fees and rental cars, McLaughlin said. Landing fees paid to the airport have also declined.<\/p>\n The airport remains in positive financial territory overall, thanks to reduced expenditures and other more stable revenue sources, McLaughlin said.<\/p>\n Still, McLaughlin cautioned the airport will likely not realize overall passenger targets for the year. DFW Airport Board Monthly Meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n Documenter:<\/strong> Doug Wilhelm<\/p>\n Date<\/strong>: May 7, 2026<\/p>\n To learn more about this meeting, click here<\/a>. For the agenda, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Customer experience improvements<\/strong> \u201cDFW has the largest concessions program in North America, with over 290 locations,\u201d he said, adding his goal is to almost double the amount of concession space between the Terminal C expansion and new Terminal F. Doug Wilhelm is a member of the Fort Worth Report\u2019s Documenters crew<\/a>. If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at news@fortworthreport.org<\/a>with \u201cCorrection Request\u201d in the subject line.<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/05\/16\/airline-challenges-and-customer-experience-improvements-headline-dfw-airport-board-meeting\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=549206&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/05\/16\/airline-challenges-and-customer-experience-improvements-headline-dfw-airport-board-meeting\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Scott Nishimura, Fort Worth Report May 16, 2026 Airlines continue to feel pressure from the Iran War,\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":801127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[10314,17390,5229,13021,14614,7371,14615,14616,7372,358,1164,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-801126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-airlines","9":"tag-airports","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-aviation","12":"tag-documenters","13":"tag-fort-worth","14":"tag-fort-worth-documenters","15":"tag-fort-worth-report-documenters","16":"tag-fortworth","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-travel","19":"tag-tx","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cWe as a board have discussed recently that this industry will often see short-term shocks and periodic crises, but we know that our long-term outlook remains strong, and we know that demand for DFW remains strong,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re excited about what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nKenneth Buchanan, DFW Airport chief revenue officer, updated the board on the airport\u2019s work to improve the travel experience.
\nHe noted the airport was named \u201cBest Large Airport in North America\u201d<\/a> for the fourth straight year by the Airports Council International World because of its high level of customer satisfaction.
\nBuchanan outlined several customer service improvements the airport recently implemented or that are in the works.
\nEnhancements include new features in the DFW Mobile App<\/a> including real-time parking availability, prepaid parking, advance concessions orders and information on security wait times. The airport is purchasing newer and faster screening equipment to quicken the security process.<\/p>\n
\nThe airport also committed to installing power outlets at every airport seat and to a $100 million restroom renovation program.
\nBoard member and Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer recognized\u00a0<\/strong>
\nBoard Chair Vernon Evans offered thanks and appreciation to Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer who will be ending his term as mayor this month and stepping off the airport board. Stopfer has been mayor since 2017 and served on the airport board three different times.\u00a0
\nIn his remarks, Stopfer credited DFW with being a growth engine. \u201cIt\u2019s just been an incredible opportunity for me to see the airport grow, to see our city grow, and to see us all come together as a region,\u201d he said. \u201cThis truly is why the DFW area is growing. It is because of this airport.\u201d
\nExpenditures approved<\/strong>
\nThe board approved expenditures totaling $43.4 million. Items included $14 million for replacement of electrical distribution equipment in the airport\u2019s central utility plant, $12.3 million for expansion of the south remote parking lot and $4.3 million for three new firefighting vehicles.\u00a0
\nThe board also approved a $50 million reimbursement to American Airlines for Terminal F construction services under a cost-sharing partnership.<\/p>\n