American Airlines building $250M hotel, conference center

Dive Brief:

American Airlines is building a $250 million hotel and conference center at its new $1 billion, 300-acre Fort Worth, Texas, headquarters, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The 620,000-square-foot, nine-story building will include a 600-room hotel, a 131,000-square-foot conference center, office and retail space, dining areas and a tavern, all sitting atop three levels of underground parking. The News reported that although the building permit is still under review by the city of Forth Worth, construction is expected to begin within 60 days and be complete in 2021.
The new center will serve as an education and training hub for airline employees and will be built on the site of a 1950s-era flight attendant school.

Dive Insight:

The News also reported that the first employees will be moving into American’s new campus before the end of the month, followed by hundreds more during the course of the summer.

American has kept contractors in the Dallas metro area busy as the company and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) continue to make capital investments at and around its hub at DFW. In fact, just last month DFW and the airline announced that the airport would invest up to $3.5 billion in a sixth terminal for American and renovations to an existing one, all geared toward keeping American happy at its Dallas-area home.

The new Terminal F will have space for up to 24 gates, which will be phased in over time, and will be open by 2025. Terminal C upgrades will include updated check-in areas, new security checkpoints that can accommodate more people, additional space for concessions and cosmetic improvements.

American also has a significant operation at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and is underway with a $1.6 billion terminal renovation there. It's the biggest single-airport investment for the company and will include work at its two terminals there. The scope of work includes a total overhaul of one terminal and upgrades to the other; 30 new gates that will serve both terminals; access to a new people mover; new security lanes; and updated dining and retail.

American is also part of an $8.7 billion expansion at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The eight-year plan includes construction of a new terminal that both American and United Airlines will share. American at first balked at the way airport officials allocated gates between it and United and threatened to sue the city and reduce its service to O'Hare. Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, however, was able to broker a deal that satisfied both airlines.