Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is set to get $24 million from a new federal funding package as the Trump administration moves to upgrade airport and air traffic control systems across the country, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday.
The money is part of an $835 million investment announced by the Department of Transportation for tech improvements at 41 airports in two dozen states. DFW, one of the five busiest airports on the planet, sees a plane take off every 85 seconds, making it a major test case for the modernization effort.
Duffy told 4's Casey Stegall that the nation's airport network has gone too long without a serious overhaul. He said the system has not really been updated in decades and that, after a deep dive into its condition, he concluded it needs to be rebuilt with new equipment rather than patched over. The planned upgrades include fiber, new radars, new radio, new voice switches and new gear for controllers in the towers.
That push is not limited to DFW. The department said another $1 billion will go toward improving the travel experience for families at 45 airports, including bathroom expansions and changes meant to make facilities easier to use with strollers and changing tables. At DFW, Duffy said the money will help expand bathrooms and make them more accessible for those needs.
The funding comes after Congress passed the Big Beautiful Bill in July 2025, which provided much of the money behind the effort. Duffy is also asking Congress for $10 billion more to move the next phase of modernization forward, while saying the $12.5 billion network, radio and radar overhaul could be completed in two and a half years. That timeline is ambitious for a system that has lagged for years, but it now has a clear federal blueprint and a first round of money attached.
The airport work also lands ahead of a busy summer in North Texas, where the World Cup is expected to bring a global crowd and added transportation pressure. Duffy said the federal government has already given Dallas $10 million to help with those needs, underscoring that the airport upgrades and the tournament logistics are now tied to the same larger problem: moving more people through one of the country’s most important aviation hubs without the delays and breakdowns of an aging network.
