Will Rogers Airport 25-Year Plan Opens Garage and Terminal Work
Parking garage demolition and construction, terminal rehabilitation and, later, a concourse that more than doubles in size are lined up in order at Will Rogers International Airport in Oklahoma City. Construction Dive reports that the city unveiled a 25-year, three-phase expansion proposal called “Cleared for Takeoff,” announced Oct. 13, that would take the airport from 4.6 million passengers a year to as many as 20 million.
Project stage: proposal and master plan. The source does not give a total cost, funding plan, delivery method, GC or construction manager, or start dates for any phase. Mead & Hunt, the Middleton, Wisconsin-based firm, described the effort as a multibillion-dollar program.
Background
Jeff Mulder, Oklahoma City’s director of airports, outlined the three phases in the Oct. 13 release, according to Construction Dive. Work is already underway on terminal flooring replacements and terminal drive rehabilitation.
The airport’s master plan, as cited by Construction Dive, explains the push. It identifies a shortage of public parking, especially covered close-in and premium spaces. It also flags terminal curbside capacity deficiencies that cause congestion year-round and during peak hours.
The first phase accommodates up to 6 million annual passengers. It covers the addition and demolition of parking garages and terminal rehabilitation work. Later phases would expand the terminal concourse from 17 to 40 gates and add a light rail passenger connection to downtown Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City Airport Trust hired Mead & Hunt to assist with terminal programming and cost estimating.
Analysis
The phasing is the story. Phase one is sized for 6 million passengers, roughly 30% above today’s 4.6 million (labeled arithmetic: 6 divided by 4.6). The 20 million ceiling is about 4.3 times current volume. That gap tells you the early work is a capacity fix for problems the master plan already documents, while the big-ticket scopes come later and are less certain.
Early packages look landside-heavy. Garage demolition, new garage construction and terminal rehab point to demolition, structural concrete, site utilities, MEP and finish trades first. Because garages are being both added and demolished, parking will likely need to be phased so passengers always have spaces. That usually favors contractors who can work in tight, live environments with short shutdown windows. This is our inference. The source describes the scope only at a high level.
The concourse jump drives the later work. Going from 17 to 40 gates adds 23 gates (labeled arithmetic). The source does not detail the apron or airfield scope, but that many new gates would reasonably involve:
- aircraft parking and taxi infrastructure, meaning airfield paving
- utility extensions
- electrical distribution
- baggage and passenger systems
Those trades should expect packages in the later phases, not the first one.
Light rail is a separate market. A connection to downtown Oklahoma City would bring track, structures, and systems work that is different from airport building. The source gives no timeline or funding for it, so treat it as the furthest-out piece of the program.
Procurement is the open question. The Airport Trust brought in Mead & Hunt for programming and cost estimating, which means scope definition and budget numbers are being shaped now. Estimating work usually decides how packages get bundled, and bundling decides whether a regional subcontractor bids directly or works under a large prime. The source does not say which delivery method the Trust will use. Subs should assume it is undecided and position for both paths.
A 25-year horizon cuts both ways. It offers visibility, but without confirmed funding, phase two and three dates can move. The firms that benefit are those that get known early, not those that wait for a bid notice. Compare this phasing with our earlier coverage of the Salt Lake City airport program and the Oklahoma City arena sequencing, which can help you judge how long local owners take to move from plan to packages.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Get on the list this quarter. Contact the Oklahoma City Airport Trust’s procurement office and ask whether it maintains a vendor or prequalification list. Submit your firm’s information by Dec. 31, 2026. Include safety record, bonding capacity and airport or secured-area experience if you have it.
- Parking and demolition trades: Phase one includes garage addition and demolition. Demolition, concrete, structural steel, and site utility contractors should ask the Trust whether garage work will be bid as separate packages or folded into a single construction contract.
- Electrical, mechanical and finish trades: Terminal rehabilitation is part of phase one, and flooring and terminal drive work is already underway. Find out who holds those current contracts and introduce your firm as a capacity partner for the next rehab packages.
- Contact Mead & Hunt’s terminal programming team. The firm is doing cost estimating and programming. Share unit pricing, productivity data, and live-terminal phasing experience, since that input can shape how the work gets packaged.
- Airfield paving, utility and electrical contractors: The 17 to 40 gate expansion is a later phase with no dates in the source. Treat it as a pipeline item. Check Airport Trust board agendas each quarter for funding actions or design procurement, which would signal when package planning begins.
- Plan for a prime-led structure. If the Trust has not announced a delivery method, start conversations now with general contractors that have airport experience. Offer your qualifications for the garage and terminal work so you are on their lists when teams form.
- Light rail work is a long-range item. The source gives no owner, funding or schedule, so only firms with transit track or systems experience should put it on a longer-term list.
