July 20, 2026

Dallas Love Field Plans for More Sustainable Future

With Dallas Love Field Airport expected to serve an additional 4 million passengers annually by 2040, infrastructure improvements are needed to accommodate the increased traffic. The Dallas Love Field Expansion Airport Program (LEAP) is a $2.5 billion investment that positions the airport to improve resilience, strengthen connectivity and support long-term economic growth across North Texas.

To support these efforts, the City of Dallas Department of Aviation is partnering with Freese and Nichols to develop an airport-wide utility master plan. The implementation-focused plan will evaluate and coordinate more than 14 utility systems, helping modernize airport infrastructure while keeping Dallas Love Field fully operational throughout future expansion efforts.

Integrated Planning Effort Brings Together Expertise

Unlike a traditional planning study, the utility master plan is being developed as an implementation-ready tool, rather than serving as a standalone planning document. The utility master plan is designed to help guide decision-making as the broader LEAP program moves forward, strengthening critical systems, reducing the risk of service disruptions and supporting future airport expansion.

Key utility systems include:

• Electrical
• Thermal
• Water and wastewater
• Communications
• Fuel and natural gas infrastructure

Experts from Freese and Nichols’ aviation, utilities, facilities, geographic information systems (GIS), subsurface utility engineering (SUE), sustainability and program management teams will contribute to the project and provide coordinated support to the airport.

To support Love Field’s utility plan, the Freese and Nichols project team will integrate technologies such as GIS, SUE and digital modeling with implementation-focused planning into their work. These tools help reduce subsurface risk, improve coordination across disciplines and enable smarter, faster decision-making in a highly constrained airport environment.

By leveraging technology, the utility master plan will serve as a real-time program delivery tool that improves efficiency, minimizes disruption during construction, and supports long-term resilience and growth for the airport and its surrounding community.

Supporting Long-Term Growth at Dallas Love Field

The utility master plan will provide airport leaders with a clear roadmap for future infrastructure investments, helping them understand what improvements are needed, when they should occur and how they can be coordinated with other projects across the airport.

By identifying utility needs early and prioritizing improvements, the plan will help reduce conflicts between projects, support more efficient construction sequencing and minimize disruptions to airport operations. The roadmap will also help airport leaders coordinate investments across multiple utility systems while aligning infrastructure improvements with future terminal enhancements, airside and landside projects, and broader modernization efforts.

Through thoughtful planning, innovation and strategic investment, Love Field is building a resilient foundation that will support connectivity, economic opportunity and exceptional passenger experiences for years to come.