Chris McLaughlin will be the new chief executive officer of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, it announced Thursday.
McLaughlin succeeds Sean Donohue, who in October announced plans to retire from the world’s third busiest airport in of traffic. Donohue has been with DFW Airport since 2013, the final stop of his four decades-long career in aviation.
Currently serving as DFW’s executive vice president of operations, McLaughlin has held that role since 2021. He was appointed CEO following a unanimous vote by the airport’s board of directors, and will step into his new role May 19.
“I am inheriting one of the best teams in the business, surrounded by true industry partners with a shared vision, ing a community and a region that my family proudly calls home,” he said in a release.
“Working together with our board, our employees, the community and our stakeholders, we’ll continue to transform travel for our region and the world,” he added.
After Donohue’s announcement, the airport’s board of directors initiated a global search for his successor, but they didn’t have to go far to find him.
“Chris McLaughlin is the right person to lead the airport into its next exciting chapter of growth,” Donohue said in a statement, saying the executive “possesses the experience, leadership and expertise needed to guide an enterprise the magnitude of DFW.”
According to DeMetris Sampson, Chair of the DFW Airport Board of Directors, McLaughlin “stood out in a global pool of exceptional candidates as a forward-thinking, inclusive leader who understands both the scale and the impact of our mission,”
Before coming to DFW Airport, McLaughlin served as chief operating officer at Denver International Airport, and led the Transportation Security istration’s Office of Security Operations, where he helped establish the PreCheck program.
He has also held high-level positions at CLEAR, Frontier Airlines and elsewhere in the industry.
Now, McLaughlin will lead one of the globe’s busiest enger hubs, and the largest carbon-neutral airport, which saw nearly 90 million engers in 2024.
The airport serves nearly 200 domestic destinations and more than 60 international, and each year it s 634,000 jobs, more than $38 billion in annual payroll and generates $5 billion in state and local taxes.