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DFW Airport CEO Sean Donohue to retire next year

Donohue, 63, will remain with the airport to help support the transition of a new leader.

The head of DFW International Airport, Sean Donohue, said he plans to retire next year after a 40-year career in aviation, with 11 of those years at the North Texas airport.

Donohue, 63, joined the airport in 2013. The airport later gained the title of third-busiest airport in the world based on passenger traffic. He’s overseen planning for the upcoming Terminal F project and the 50th anniversary of the airport in 2024, alongside the completion of a new 10-year use-and-lease agreement between air carriers at the airport and Fort Worth-based American Airlines. Donohue also spent 29 years as an executive with Virgin Australia Airlines and United Airlines.

“It’s with mixed emotions that I have decided the time has come to pass the torch at DFW and begin a new chapter in my own life, after four decades of service to the aviation industry,” Donohue said in a release. “Aviation has taken me to nearly every corner of the world and led me to the great privilege of overseeing the best airport in the business. In many ways, the story of DFW and North Texas are the same, having grown and supported one another for 50 years.”

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The airport’s board of directors will initiate a global search for the next leader of the airport.

“Sean’s impact on DFW Airport and the broader aviation industry cannot be overstated,” said DeMetris Sampson, DFW Airport board chair. “His leadership and vision have guided DFW through periods of historic challenges and significant growth.”

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Donohue said he plans to remain at the airport until next year to support the transition to a new CEO.

DFW Airport board of directors chair DeMetris Sampson (left), DFW International Airport CEO...
DFW Airport board of directors chair DeMetris Sampson (left), DFW International Airport CEO Sean Donohue (center) and Jim Moses, American Airlines senior vice president of DFW operations smile after a wall-breaking ceremony for the reconstruction of Terminal C at DFW International Airport, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)
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