AllianceTexas celebrates 35 years From the cover
The current situation
Number of flights at Perot Field
2023 landed cargo rankings
Perot Field ranked 20th in the U.S. for the amount of cargo that landed at the airport throughout 2023.
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Before the Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport opened in 1989, Tarrant County was experiencing job loss at a rate higher than the rest of the country, said Bill Burton, executive vice president of marketing and development. The county netted just over 750 jobs in 1989, while Collin, Dallas and Denton counties added thousands, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Two years before that, the county lost nearly 9,000 jobs in 1987. The airport, then called the Fort Worth Alliance Airport, was the first component to open as part of AllianceTexas, which is celebrating 35 years of operation in December. In that time, the development is estimated to have created more than 66,000 jobs and left a $119.8 billion economic impact on the region, according to an AllianceTexas economic impact report released in 2024. The airport laid the foundation for the rest of the 27,000-acre mixed-use development, Burton said. “Without the airport, we wouldn’t have had the rest of it,” Burton said. “It brought the infrastructure, it brought the investment, it brought the focus to the area that has now
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Philadelphia International George Bush Intercontinental Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Phoenix Sky Harbor International Portland International
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2.71B 2.31B 2.04B 1.99B 1.99B
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yielded in excess of $3.5 billion of property taxes.” Perot Field is an industrial airport, meaning it only sees cargo flights and occasional charter flights. Several corporations, including Amazon, FedEx, Gulf Stream and Tarrant County College, have opened locations at Perot Field. Alliance Aviation President Christian Childs said he believes the airport offers an environment that attracts those types of “heavy hitters.” Perot Field is ranked within the top 20 airports across the U.S. for the highest amount of cargo seen each year, Childs said.
Breakdown of Perot Field space
Two jet fuel farms
1,198 acres
Two 11,000-foot runways
Four hangars totaling 130,000 square feet
16 aircraft based at the airport
SOURCES: FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, HILLWOOD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Zooming out
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35W
Officials from Hillwood and AVX Aircraft held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 29 for AVX’s new 21,000-square-foot headquarters at the airport. AVX Aircraft specializes in testing unmanned aircraft systems for military and commercial purposes. During the ceremony, AVX President and COO Kendall Goodman said the new facility gives the company space to continue developing, designing and testing vertical lift technology. Attracting AVX to the airport plays into Alliance- Texas’ Mobility Innovation Zone, Burton said. The zone refers to a supply chain ecosystem made up of different components, including the airport, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway intermodal hub and the AllianceTexas Flight Test Center. The zone aims to connect innovative mobility companies with resources and partnerships to commercialize new technologies related to transit. “I love attracting [AVX Aircraft] up here because that tends to bring new energy, new focus and cavities that will continue to build on itself,” Burton said.
Fort Worth
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Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport
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Airport boundary
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1 Amazon Regional Air Hub
2 FedEx Southwest Regional Sort Hub
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ALLIANCE BLVD.
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3 Tarrant County College Center of Excellence 4 AVX Aircraft Company 6 Gulfstream Aerospace Service center 5 FedEx Ground facility
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Roanoke
7 Paramount Aerospace Systems
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8 Aspire service center
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9 Prime Flight 10 Approximate location of new Embraer service center
WESTPORT PKWY.
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SOURCE: HILLWOOD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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