DFW Lifts All Six Skylink Modules Into Place for Terminal F

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport has placed all six prefabricated modules of its future Terminal F Skylink station onto the existing guideway, completing the heaviest construction phase of the $4 billion project. The milestone keeps the terminal on course to open its first 15 gates in 2027.

Each module weighs between 210 and 310 tons. The heaviest of them, at roughly the weight of a fully loaded Boeing 777, had to be hoisted onto the elevated Skylink track — the automated people mover (a driverless train linking DFW's terminals) that has operated since 2005.

How the lifts worked

Crews assembled the modules at ground level rather than building the station in place above the guideway. This method shifts the complex fitting work away from live airport infrastructure and compresses the time the track itself must stay closed.

A heavy-lift crawler crane, delivered in roughly 60 truckloads and assembled over nearly two weeks, performed the lifts. Each of the six modules went up during a single overnight operation lasting about eight hours. That scheduling allowed crews to position the structures precisely while keeping disruption to airport operations to a minimum and avoiding extended Skylink shutdowns.

With the modules seated, workers will now connect and integrate the structures to complete the station. Once finished, it will give passengers rail access to DFW's sixth terminal.

What does this change for passengers and airlines?

For passengers, the new station extends the airport's people-mover network to a terminal that currently has no rail link. For airlines, the practical gain is capacity: Terminal F will open with 15 gates in 2027 and eventually grow to 31, all served by American Airlines, DFW's dominant hub carrier.

The terminal is designed for additional international operations and widebody aircraft — aircraft with two aisles, typically used on long-haul routes. It will also add new ticketing, security, baggage and passenger facilities, and a pedestrian connection to Terminal D, DFW's existing international terminal.

For American, the gates translate into schedule and network headroom at a hub that already operates near capacity during peak banks. For DFW, the international and widebody capability supports its push for more long-haul service.

A $12 billion program behind it

Terminal F sits within DFW Forward, the airport's $12 billion capital improvement program. The terminal is the program's single largest visible element, and its 2027 gate opening is the benchmark against which the airport's delivery record will now be measured.

The module lifts, completed without extended people-mover closures, remove the project's most operationally risky construction step. Attention shifts to systems integration — connecting the new station to the guideway — and then to fitting out the terminal itself before the first 15 gates can receive aircraft in 2027.