The Investigators

Big Spending, Big Salaries At DFW Airport

DFW AIRPORT (CBS 11 News) ― The freebies and perks are piling up at DFW International Airport.

A CBS 11 investigation found 100 airport employees making more than $100,000 a year.  And the more we investigate, the more special privileges we find.

The CEO of DFW International Airport, Jeff Fegan, gets a handsome six-figure paycheck, earning more than $344,000 per year.   He flies first class to Austin, New York City and around the world.  He bills you $1,300 for an empty hotel room when he's flying over the Atlantic -- sitting in a cushy first class seat -- so he can check in early in the morning.

And there's another perk we uncovered: you pay for his leased car, a 2007 Acura.

According to an internal document, the airport leases five cars for top executives so they can drive to work – and you pay for it.

You pay $45,000 in car allowances for DFW executives every year.  Consumer watchdog Michael Q. Sullivan of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility says overall, there is a problem with spending at the airport. "Taxpayers, travelers and who do business there should begin demanding of both congress and the legislature that they begin outside independent audits of this government entity."

Even lower level executives get in on the action.  CBS 11 obtained a document from DFW Airport that shows more than 50 other airport employees received a car allowance between $500 and $850 per month.  That's more than $360,000 of your money used to help DFW employees drive to and from work and around the airport every year.  And according to CEO Fegan, who is the highest paid airport CEO in the country, the benefit is "part of the package that we offer and how we pay our employees."

Dallas Mayor and DFW Airport board member Tom Leppert was so concerned after reading our stories on cbs11tv.com that he is calling for the board to immediately begin an investigation.   Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, who initially didn't want to answer our specific questions about his first-class, all-expense-paid trip to the Middle East – using your money – has now decided to reimburse the airport for his first class travel and incidentals.  Moncrief also wants a thorough review of the issues raised by the CBS 11 investigators.

Airport officials have told CBS 11 they're acting prudently - even while claiming they're looking for ways to cut expenses.


Read our first story on DFW Airport's spending here.  Our story about Mayor Moncrief's trip to the Middle East is here.  You can read statements about these stories from both mayors and from DFW Airport here.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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