Terminal E at Dallas/Forth Worth Airport to Get Makeover

Sept. 19, 2005
Terminal E was left mostly vacant after Delta slashed service early this year. The makeover will accommodate a new lineup of airlines.

Sep. 17--D/FW AIRPORT -- Terminal E, left mostly vacant after Delta Air Lines slashed service early this year, will undergo a makeover in fiscal 2006 to accommodate a new lineup of airlines.

Filling some of the empty gates will be Alaska Airlines, Spirit Airlines and other domestic carriers moving from Terminal B. Spirit will begin service in January.

Airport board members established a $15 million budget at a special meeting Friday to allow on-demand construction within Terminal E, as well as refurbishment work for AMR's regional carrier, American Eagle, in Terminal B. A pre-selected pool of firms will bid for the work.

Overruns on line items within the budget will require board approval.

The board also allotted $3.2 million to refurbish Terminal E's baggage-handling system, for a total contract of $5.38 million. The work is a stopgap for the move-in of carriers. A total overhaul of the unreliable system would cost $31 million, said Jim Crites, D/FW executive vice president of operations.

For passengers, what will be most noticeable is the changing of some carriers' gate assignments during the next year, he said.

American Eagle is moving some flights from the Terminal A satellite to Terminals B and D, and the Terminal A satellite will be vacated. Domestic carriers in Terminal B are moving to Terminal E, as are new carriers. International carriers have moved to Terminal D. The vacated Terminal E satellite will remain empty.

In addition to reshuffling airline gates, D/FW officials heard about problems in getting Terminal D running.

Board member Santiago Salinas told the board about a rumor circulating among concessionaires that Terminal D's main tenant, American Airlines, might not move in until 2006. Kevin Cox, D/FW's chief operating officer, tried to quell the rumor, saying D/FW executives would give the board a firm date on American's move-in by the October board meeting.

The reliability of Terminal D's miles of baggage-handling belts is still being tested, American spokesman Tim Wagner said, and there is no firm move-in date.