Texas star DFW celebrates its 50th anniversary

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) celebrated its 50th anniversary at the weekend.

“North Texas would not be the national success story it is today without DFW Airport. The City of Dallas has grown tremendously over the years in large part due to DFW,” enthused Mayor of Dallas, Eric Johnson.

“While DFW has benefitted our region through jobs and supporting local businesses, it has also served as our connection to the world.

“We get to show the world all of the great things that make Dallas and North Texas so special. In the next 50 years, you can count on DFW and the City of Dallas welcoming even more businesses, residents, and visitors.”

While his counterpart at Fort Worth, Mattie Parker, noted: “DFW Airport is key to what makes Fort Worth and North Texas excel among its peers.

“For the past 50 years, DFW has driven much of our economic growth and has ushered in a new generation of successful businesses that can easily reach across not only the country, but the entire world in hours.

“Many successful Fort Worth businesses chose to relocate to Fort Worth thanks to DFW, including our hometown airline, American Airlines. We look forward to welcoming every new business, resident, and visitor that DFW brings to Fort Worth with open arms and to what the next 50 years of connection brings.”

Airport CEO, Sean Donohue, said: “All of us at DFW Airport carry the proud legacy that was started by the Dallas and Fort Worth leaders who saw the potential for a combined commercial airport for Dallas and Fort Worth that could grow and support the region well into the future.

“After 50 years, this airport has become not only an economic driver for the region, but a central part of the success story of North Texas. We could not have achieved this without the support of our community, our business partners – especially our largest airline, American Airlines – and our employees.

“Tens of thousands of individuals make up the heartbeat of DFW, and the community is its soul. We thank our many partners, neighbors and friends around the world who have contributed to the ongoing success of this airport.”

In 1974, DFW was the largest airport ever constructed in the US and was twice the size of any before it. The airport began operations with nine airlines, and today is home to 28 airlines – including 16 international airlines – with service to 256 destinations around the world.

With an estimated 80 million passengers in 2023, DFW is one of the busiest airports in the world and home to American Airlines’ largest hub with operations from the airport to nearly every corner of the globe.

As you would expect of an airport of its size, DFW is a major economic engine for the regional economy.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Tuesday January 25, 2022. (Andy Jacobsohn)

DFW’s contribution includes supporting an annual payroll of $38 billion, benefitting over 634,000 jobs. Notably, the number of jobs supported by DFW saw an increase of nearly 25%, rising from over 500,000 in 2015 to 634,000 in 2019.

Visitors to DFW and the surrounding region generate $24 billion in economic activity each year. This resulted in more than $3 billion in state taxes and $2 billion in local taxes, further contributing to the region’s economy.