OKC Will Rogers Airport Unveils 25-Year Plan to Reach 20 Million Passengers

Oklahoma City's Will Rogers International Airport has released "Cleared for Takeoff," a 25-year terminal expansion plan that would take the airport from a baseline of 4.6 million annual passengers to capacity for 20 million. The plan is phased by passenger milestones, starts with a new parking structure and curbside work, and ends with a 40-gate concourse. Construction Dive described it on October 20 as a multibillion-dollar program; the city has not published a cost.

What Happened

The airport unveiled the conceptual Terminal Expansion Plan at a public open house on October 13, describing it as a roadmap for the next 25 years that addresses terminal capacity strain, passenger processing, public parking shortages and long-term growth (City of Oklahoma City). Director of Airports Jeff Mulder said the plan "outlines our trajectory" from 4.6 million passengers a year toward 20 million, and called it a step toward balancing landside facilities with airside terminal capacity (City of Oklahoma City).

Construction Dive reported that the master plan identifies a shortage of public parking, particularly covered close-in and premium spaces, and curbside capacity problems that cause congestion at peak hours (Construction Dive). The outlet also reported that the Oklahoma City Airport Trust hired Mead & Hunt, an architecture, engineering and construction services firm based in Middleton, Wisconsin, for terminal programming and cost estimating (Construction Dive).

The Three Phases

The city says the phases are demand driven, meaning each one is tied to passenger volume rather than a fixed calendar (City of Oklahoma City).

• Phase 1, at 6 million passengers: A new five-level parking structure north of Garage C with 1,538 new spaces, a weather-protective canopy at the rideshare waiting area, demolition of Garage A and a temporary at-grade terminal curbside roadway (City of Oklahoma City).
• Phase 2, at 8 million passengers: A partial front-of-building expansion from the west that extends curbside frontage to about 550 feet, a concourse expanded to 24 to 26 gates including at least one widebody position, and a permanent two-level curbside roadway (City of Oklahoma City).
• Phase 3, at 20 million passengers: Full front-of-building expansion, a curbside widened to six lanes with two distinct curbs, and a 40-gate concourse (City of Oklahoma City).

Construction Dive's summary of later phases also mentions a light rail passenger connection to downtown Oklahoma City (Construction Dive). The city's release on the plan does not list that element in its phase descriptions, so it should be treated as a longer-range concept until the airport publishes more detail.

Work Already Underway

Separate from the 25-year plan, the airport is carrying out three modernization projects now (City of Oklahoma City):

• Terminal flooring: Started in September 2026, replacing tile with terrazzo across the tunnel, baggage claim, ticketing and concourse, with completion targeted for January 2028.
• Terminal Drive rehabilitation: Work at Terminal Drive and Amelia Earhart begins in mid-October 2026, with completion expected by February 2028.
• Restrooms: Baggage claim and ticketing restrooms will be renovated to exceed standard ADA requirements, finishing by December 2027.

The city cautions that final designs, colors and materials may change as design matures, but says the foundational roadmap is set (City of Oklahoma City).

Implications for Owners, Developers, Contractors and Subs

Airport programs like this one tend to move in a long sequence of separate packages rather than one large award. Parking structures, roadway and curbside work, enabling demolition, terminal interiors and concourse additions are often procured on their own schedules, which opens the door to a wide range of general contractors and specialty trades over many years. The Phase 1 garage, with 1,538 spaces over five levels, is the most concrete near-term building in the plan.

Because the phases are tied to passenger counts, the pace of later work depends on traffic growth. Contractors tracking the program should watch reported enplanements alongside airport board agendas. Cost and funding remain open questions. Neither the city release nor Construction Dive identifies a funding source or a total budget, and capital plans of this kind usually rely on a mix of airport revenue, federal grants and bonds that are set project by project.

Oklahoma City is already a busy construction market. WCG has followed the $900 million downtown arena in Continental Coliseum Pours First Elevated Deck at $900M OKC Arena, and airport terminal work nationally in America's Airport Overhaul: The Billion-Dollar Terminal Pipeline Taking Shape in 2025 to 2026.

What to Watch

• Design and procurement for the Phase 1 parking structure and rideshare canopy.
• A cost estimate from the terminal programming work by Mead & Hunt.
• Funding decisions by the Oklahoma City Airport Trust and any federal grant applications.
• Passenger growth, which will set the timing of Phases 2 and 3.

Bottom Line

Will Rogers International Airport now has a published, three-phase path from 4.6 million to 20 million annual passengers. The first visible construction will be landside: a new garage, curbside changes and the interior and roadway projects already underway. The larger concourse work will follow as traffic grows and funding is set.

Related Coverage

• America's Airport Overhaul: The Billion-Dollar Terminal Pipeline Taking Shape in 2025 to 2026
• Continental Coliseum Pours First Elevated Deck at $900M OKC Arena
• Pittsburgh Airport's $1.6B Overhaul Tests New Construction Tech

Image credit: Courtesy of Mead & Hunt, via Construction Dive. Image from the source article.

Sources

• City of Oklahoma City, "OKC Will Rogers International Airport unveils Cleared for Takeoff": https://www.okc.gov/News-articles/OKC-Will-Rogers-International-Airport-unveils-Cleared-for-Takeoff
• Construction Dive, "Oklahoma City unveils 25-year, multibillion-dollar airport expansion": https://www.constructiondive.com/news/oklahoma-city-unveils-multibillion-dollar-airport-expansion/833513/