A Good Thing Here…
Fort Worth plans ‘transformative’ upgrades at 3 municipal airports amid private travel boom
This story was originally published by the Fort Worth Report. You may read the original version here.
by Eric E. Garcia, Fort Worth Report
April 8, 2026
Fort Worth is planning major airport upgrades as the city’s hubs for private travel and corporate flights ascend.
New construction and improvements are planned at three bustling municipal facilities — Meacham International Airport, Fort Worth Spinks Airport, and Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport — to accommodate growth, officials said.
“It’s really going to be transformative, I think, in a couple of years,” Roger Venables, the city’s aviation director, said.
Last month, the Fort Worth City Council approved resolutions as the city applied for about$3.2 million in federal and state funding to aid in construction costs.
Officials plan to rebuild runways and other infrastructure at Meacham, Texas’ second-busiest general aviation airport. The runway upgrades are part of the city’s $170 million airport master plan, which also calls for upgrades to the control tower and the merging of the airport fire station and a nearby local fire station.
Venables said the improvements will aid in economic development as travel to North Texas is booming.
The city plans to use a total of about $1.3 million in federal funds for improvements to Meacham and Spinks airports. Meacham’s runaway will be rehabilitated and Taxiway Tango will be reconstructed. The funds will also pay for instrument landing system improvements and drainage upgrades.
About $675,000 in federal funds administered by the Texas Department of Transportation will be used with about $75,000 in matching funds from the city, according to a staff report.
“The majority of our projects here involved federal funding,” Venables said.
Meacham is wrapping up projects worth $18 million that include another taxiway rehabilitation and the building of a parallel taxiway. Meacham is planning to build a new maintenance building and replacement of an airport fuel facility, Venables said.
As a 100-year-old airport, Meacham always has something in need of upgrades, Venables said.
In 2027, Meacham’s primary runway will be shut down for improvements with an alternative in place to handle daily flight traffic. Navigational lanes will be added and upgrades will be made to the landing system.
“We’ve never had a parallel taxiway,” Venables said. “We finally got funding for that.”
The parallel taxiway will be on the airport’s west side and will aid in future development opportunities in that area, he said.
When the primary runway is closed, a taxiway will be converted into an alternative runway with a new landing surface. “We’ve done that before with other projects,” Venables said.
That project is expected to take about 180 days. Once complete, the airport would shift back to its upgraded runway.
The council also approved a new 43,560-square-foot hangar and lease agreement for Jets Asia Pacific Services LLC at Meacham. Venables said that the hangar will be built by the company.
Meacham’s private travel has taken off in the past five to 10 years, Venables said.
“Small, medium and larger business jets just require bigger hangars,” he said. “The market is building to demand, let’s put it that way.”
He added: “We look at ourselves as a business jet center.”
At Fort Worth Spinks Airport, the city’s southern flight center, similar upgrades or runways and taxiways are planned. Those projects will also use about $675,000 in federal funds with a $75,000 contribution from the city, a staff report said.
Venables said Spinks, located at 450 Alsbury Court, has a lot of developable land that will aid in economic growth as more private jets use the facility for recreational travel. The city also purchased 36 acres on the east side of Spinks to boost development.
“What we’re doing is consistent with what’s in our future master plan,” he said.
In the future, officials plan to extend Spinks’ runway by about 500 feet, Venables said.
At Perot Field, in the Alliance area of north Fort Worth, more than $1.5 million in federal funds will be used to reseal and improve airport pavement, preserve the airfield shoulder and for the relocation of Taxiway Papa’s fence and road while it is extended. A pavement management report will also be conducted.
The council authorized the use of land credit for the city’s match of up to $172,590 for the project.
Also approved was a facility lease agreement with Wallport Transit Xpress for about 43,560 square feet of parking space at Alliance airport’s maintenance facility at 2016 Eagle Parkway.
The improvements at the three airports will help boost economic development opportunities throughout Fort Worth.
“We’ve got quite a bit of hangar demand,” he said. “We’ve had quite a bit of growth in the business jet and corporate flight sector so that will keep us busy.”
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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