About LEAP
LEAP — the Love Field Expansion Airport Program — is how the City of Dallas is preparing the airport for nearly 12 million passengers a year while preserving the convenient, 20-gate experience travelers love.
Built for the Future
Love Field is forecast to grow from 8.7M to 11.9M annual enplaned passengers by 2045. LEAP delivers the capacity, technology, and resilience to meet that demand without losing what makes DAL different.
Right-sized terminal systems — check-in, security, baggage, hold rooms — balanced against the 20-gate footprint so every facility scales together.
Self-service check-in, biometric-ready screening lanes, real-time wayfinding, and a digital-first concessions experience.
High-performance building envelopes, energy-efficient systems, EV-ready parking, and stormwater design that meets the City of Dallas's climate goals.
Leadership
LEAP is delivered by a team with a track record of modernizing busy origin-and-destination airports across the country.
Director of Aviation, City of Dallas
Patrick leads the Department of Aviation and serves as LEAP's executive sponsor. With over 25 years guiding capital programs at hub airports across the U.S., he sets the program's strategic direction and accountability framework.
Chief Development Officer/Deputy Director, Airport Capital & Infrastructure
A nationally recognized airport planner, Mustapha has delivered terminal modernization programs at three of North America's busiest origin-and-destination airports. He oversees day-to-day execution across all PAL phases.
Planning and Development Manager
Austin brings 20+ years of aviation architecture experience, including award-winning concourse and headhouse projects. He leads design integration so every facility decision serves both passenger experience and operational performance.
Assistant Director, Airport Customer & Community Engagement
Heather is the bridge between LEAP and the people it serves. With deep roots in Dallas and years of public engagement experience, she leads outreach to neighborhoods, travelers, small businesses, and civic partners — making sure community voices shape the program at every step.
In Partnership With Southwest Airlines
Dallas Love Field is Southwest's hometown airport — the place the company has called home since its first flight in 1971. Today Southwest operates the majority of departures at DAL, and is LEAP's signature airline partner: at the planning table from day one, and a financial backer of the program.
Economic Vitality
Love Field is one of the region's most important economic engines — supporting tens of thousands of jobs and billions in annual activity. LEAP protects and grows that contribution.
The program is funded through airport revenues, federal grants, and bonding — not the City of Dallas General Fund. Every dollar is reinvested into the facility, the workforce, and the surrounding community.
Annual regional economic impact
Jobs supported by DAL operations
Enplaned passengers projected by 2045
Gates — preserving DAL's signature scale
Traveler Experience
Every design decision starts with the passenger — from curbside arrival to the gate.
Dual-level curbside, expanded short-term parking in Garage D, and a future ConRAC for streamlined rental car returns.
A new headhouse with widened ticket lobbies, modern self-service, and reconfigured security to cut wait times during peaks.
Wider circulation, refreshed hold rooms, more seating with power, and a fully refreshed concessions program.
An expanded baggage claim hall reduces congestion and improves the last impression of every trip.
Opportunity
LEAP is designed so the benefits of growth are felt by businesses, workers, and the broader Dallas community — not just travelers passing through.
Expanded food, beverage, and retail footprint with a renewed emphasis on Dallas-based and ACDBE-certified brands.
New leasable space across the headhouse and Garage D, plus partnership opportunities with the rental car consortium at the future ConRAC.
Thousands of construction jobs through 2045, plus a long-term pipeline for airline, ground service, public safety, and aviation maintenance careers.
Dedicated outreach, mentor-protégé pairings, and unbundled bid packages designed to give local and minority-owned firms a clear path to participate.
Whether you're a small business pursuing concessions, a contractor responding to a bid, or a Dallas resident looking for a career in aviation — there's a path in.