Sec. Pete Buttigieg attends groundbreaking for DFW Airport's new end-around taxiway

IRVING, Texas - There's no shortage of movement at DFW Airport. 

Planes are constantly taking off and landing as others taxi nearby.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was at DFW Thursday for the ground-breaking of the airport's southwest end-around taxiway.

"Every time a plane crosses an active runway to get to where it's going, that's a source of risk," he said.

"We are currently the second-biggest airport in the world, and these end-around taxiways help us be able to move planes safely," explained DFW Air Traffic Control Manager Matt Segleskli.

Once complete in 2025, the southwest end-around will reduce the need for aircraft to cross two active runways.

An animation shows how planes move across runways without end-arounds. Another animation shows how end-arounds work, able to bypass planes taking off and landing.

DFW Airport already has two in operation.

Dr. Brent Bowen is the founder of the National Airline Quality Rating.

"I think what we're seeing here is a significant advancement in safety," he said.

The FAA is funding the $28 million airfield safety project. Bowen says one of the most serious of all potential plane accidents are what aviation experts call "runway incursions."

"It really will go a long way to prevent future close encounters to prevent future accidents," he said. "Because keeping the aircraft away from the runway is very, very important." 

The new end-around taxiway at DFW Airport is part of a $20 billion investment the FAA is making for safety improvements at airports across the country.

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"We're looking at every piece of the puzzle and addressing every part of the picture," Buttigieg said.

Part of that puzzle includes people.

The investment in infrastructure comes at a time with flight and ground crews at major airline carriers, including Fort Worth-based American and Dallas-based Southwest, are picketing over work conditions and pay.

Bowen says those concerns can't be ignored.

"Such as fatigue by pilots, fatigue by air traffic controllers, the human elements, electronic gates and things such as this have to be looked at together," he said.

DFW CEO Sean Donohue says end-around taxiways also improve arrival times. He says passengers to get to their gates about four minutes faster.

Bowen says while that may seem small, those minutes add up to better overall utilization of the airport since DFW is not able to build any additional runways to keep up with growing demand.