Big plans to expand McKinney airport, welcome airlines advance despite setbacks

MCKINNEY, Texas — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.

The planned expansion of McKinney National Airport promises to inject hundreds of millions of dollars into an already hot corner of the North Texas economy but has also generated some controversy.

Either way, the project is taxiing down the runway and could really take off as early as next spring.

McKinney National is today a general aviation airport. That means it hosts private planes, whether recreational fliers or corporate jets. Current companies operating out of the airport include Toyota, Texas Instruments and Cirrus Aircraft, which offers flight training.

In the future, city leaders envision it becoming the third facility for commercial aviation in the Metroplex, after Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport. That would mean passenger jets, albeit likely smaller ones operated by discount airlines, sharing the runway with Pipers and Cessnas.

Once complete, the expanded airport is projected to create thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars in economic impact for Collin County, which is a magnet for new residents and businesses. In the coming decade, the new airport could also provide North Texas residents with a more convenient option for domestic travel, reducing the need for long commutes to other airports.

These efforts continue despite McKinney voters shooting down bond funding for a new airport terminal in 2023. It’s a story of a rapidly growing suburb grappling with a major economic development project.

New development at McKinney National would occur on the east side of the airport.

If the project comes to fruition, the expanded airport would feature a new 144,000-square-foot terminal, a 15-acre aircraft apron and 2,000 additional parking spaces.

“All of the development to date has been on the west side of the airport,” Airport Director Ken Carley said at a Bisnow event in October. “One of the best assets we have going forward is about 250 acres of land that the city of McKinney owns on the east side that is greenfield and undeveloped. There’s not a lot of airports in high growth areas that have that kind of mix — growth in the region, but yet land to develop.”

Design is ongoing, supported by a $5.4 million grant from the McKinney Economic Development Corp. and Community Development Corp.

“We have about $65 million worth of projects under design right now,” Carley said. “Everything’s moving forward.”

The city is working to obtain the necessary construction funding and has applied for a $15 million grant under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Terminals Program.

Airport officials have also applied for a grant through the FAA Airport Improvement Program, but the latest funding round isn’t expected until late in 2025, Carley said.

The city hopes to secure funding, finalize design plans and begin soliciting construction bids by May 2025, which could mean commercial flights underway by the end of 2026. Though Carley confirmed there are letters of intent from airlines, he was unable to disclose specific details because of non-disclosure agreements.

No one thinks McKinney National will come close to the traffic levels seen at DFW Airport or Love Field. The former has 171 commercial gates and around 815 flights per day while the latter operates 20 gates with 113 daily flights.

If the expansion proceeds at McKinney, the commercial terminal is expected to open with four gates, offering between four and 20 flights per day. By 2040, the airport could expand to 16 gates and up to 40 daily departures.

Even a modest number of flights would be a welcome convenience for many residents of Collin County. It added an estimated 36,364 people between 2022 and 2023 to reach 1.19 million total residents, the second-largest total gain in the country in that time. It’s about 35 miles from downtown McKinney to DFW Airport, on roads that are often clogged for long stretches of the day.

The city partnered with Sky Synergy and Vancouver-based Intervistas Consulting on an impact study that found by the time the terminal opens, it could support 1,040 direct jobs and more than 3,200 total jobs.

Projected wages are expected to total $265 million, with an overall economic impact of $850 million. The airport could also contribute $115 million in tax revenue, including $5 million for McKinney, according to the study.

But Mike Boyd, president of aviation consultancy Boyd Group International, believes the concept of commercial aviation in McKinney is a “consultant-fed pipe dream.”

Toss out big names such as American, Delta, United, Alaska and JetBlue, he advised.

Instead, McKinney could attract discount airlines such as Avelo, Frontier and Spirit, which often offer limited nonstop service to leisure destinations, Boyd said. But he remained skeptical that widespread commercial service is possible outside of such leisure travel.

Discussions about bringing commercial flights to the McKinney airport have been ongoing for years.

Not everyone is thrilled. Some airport neighbors have repeatedly expressed concerns over the potential increase in car traffic and noise, as well as what they perceive as a lack of information surrounding the east side expansion project. For many, moving to this corner of DFW was a chance to get away from big crowds and jets flying overhead.

In 2023, voters rejected a $200 million bond proposal that would have financed two-thirds of the project’s $300.7 million cost.

The airport’s backers say that while voters rejected that funding mechanism for expansion, the overall growth of the airport is in the city’s best interest and will move forward — albeit with other sources of capital. That could include federal grants and loans and grants from the McKinney EDC and CDC.

An environmental assessment report is being prepared that should address some of the neighbors’ issues, officials said. The assessment must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act and will need to be approved by the FAA before Carley and his team can move forward with their expansion plans.

The approval process includes a public comment segment, which Carley believes could occur before the end of the year.

“We’re optimistic that the [environmental] impacts of the project are really minimal in relation to noise and those kind of concerns,” Carley said.

On Oct. 3, city officials announced plans to expand the airport’s runway from 7,502 feet to 8,002 feet. The $24 million project aims to improve the airport’s infrastructure to support future aviation needs. The extension will be funded through an advance funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation, according to the announcement.