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Airport director presents $208 million trust budget, flags passenger and capital headwinds
Summary
Airports Director Jeff Mulder presented the FY26 airport trust and city-side budgets, showing a roughly $208 million trust program dominated by capital projects; he described an expected modest passenger decline, significant carryover capital funds and planned projects including boarding-bridge replacements and a new 80,000-square-foot hangar.
Jeff Mulder, director of the City's airports, presented the airports' fiscal 2026 budget and five-year capital plan to council. He described a city-side operating budget of roughly $27 million that supports personnel and city chargebacks and an overall Oklahoma City Airport Trust program with about $208 million in resources largely devoted to capital projects.
Mulder told council the trust budget reflects timing and carryover: many large projects are grant-funded and roll from year to year. He said airlines are forecasting a modest passenger decline and the airport is budgeting for a related revenue reduction; for calendar year 2024 the airport recorded a record 4.6 million passengers but Mulder said the industry expects a lower number for the coming year.
Major capital items highlighted included replacement of aging passenger boarding bridges, an FAA- and tenant-supported three-bay 80,000-square-foot hangar being built with AAR and state partners (roughly $40 million total cost; the city expects $13 million of spending in the coming fiscal year), and a planned replacement control tower at Wiley Post Airport. Mulder said the capital program for the year totals roughly $135 million for OKC Will Rogers and other airport facilities, with a five-year capital program approaching $500 million for runways, taxiways, buildings and other projects.
On near-term resource management, Mulder said the airport is building cash reserves to reduce future bonding needs for projects such as an additional parking garage. He noted carryover exists because federal grants sometimes arrive late relative to project spending schedules.
Councilmembers asked about specific projects and operations at smaller airports in the system; Mulder described recent visual-aid improvements at Clarence E. Page Airport and taxi-lane expansion plans to support higher-end development. He also said the airport is tracking a 2% passenger decline in the current calendar year and has built conservative revenue assumptions into the FY26 plan.
Mulder noted one service-development win: American Airlines plans seasonal service to Cancun beginning in November, which the director called the system's first international passenger route.
Ending note: Mulder said reserves, a heavy capital program and near-term passenger and airline-delivery pressures (for example aircraft delivery schedules) will shape airport finances going forward; no council vote or action was taken during the presentation.
