A large German plane engine maintenance company has inked a long-term lease at AllianceTexas, where it plans to invest tens of millions of dollars.

MTU Maintenance signed a 30-year lease with the City of Fort Worth to expand its presence at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport. MTU plans to invest $120 million to modernize a roughly 462,000-square-foot building at 2100 Eagle Pkwy. The building used to be the site of American Airlines’ original maintenance base and a Rolls Royce engine plant.

The new operations are expected to bring 1,200 new jobs to the region and 2,000 indirect jobs in services, logistics and infrastructure, according to a June 24 announcement from MTU.

The deal follows a number of companies expanding maintenance operations in response to the area’s large aerospace sector and favorable business climate.

Munich-based MTU Aero Engines AG offers maintenance, repair and overhaul for more than 30 engine types and serves more than 1,100 customers around the world.

Bill Burton, executive vice president at Alliance developer Hillwood, said the lease reflects a new partnership between MTU and GE Aerospace, which is also expanding operations near Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. It means MTU can be a designated GE Aerospace engine maintenance repair station. With an increase in orders of new aircraft, the need for engine maintenance is bound to grow, Burton said.

Other companies such as Embraer and Gulfstream have also expanded maintenance operations in Alliance. Burton said Tarrant County College’s aviation training and logistics program at Alliance will help supply a pipeline of skilled workers necessary to meet demand.

“To have this be [MTU’s] largest maintenance testing facility in North America is very exciting,” Burton said. “It’s part of what we imagined when we started Alliance a long time ago. This is the kind of thing that we were hoping to attract.”

Marilyn Marvin, Fort Worth director of property management, said the expansion continues to solidify the city as an aviation hub, home to the likes of American Airlines and Bell Textron.

“MTU’s continued investment in its operations will bring thousands of jobs to North Texas and provide an opportunity to collaborate with universities in ways that promote local talent development and continued training for Fort Worth’s highly-skilled workforce,” Marvin said in a statement.

MTU established its maintenance operation, originally called MTU Maintenance Dallas, in 2023. Equipment at the test facility can produce to 100,000 pounds of thrust. The company said it has rebranded the facility as MTU Maintenance Fort Worth, effective Sept. 1.

Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport is the world’s first industrial airport designed for cargo and corporate aviation traffic and is owned by the City of Fort Worth and managed by Alliance Air Services. It’s part of the 27,000-acres AllianceTexas community developed by Hillwood. AllianceTexas is home to 590 companies and has had an estimated $130 billion economic impact on the region since 1989.

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Embraer has opened a new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for commercial jets in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, as it prepares for a brand-new center to be completed.  

The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer confirmed on June 25, 2025, that its new commercial MRO facilities had opened in an existing hangar at Perot Field Alliance Airport (AFW). 

The second hangar at AFW is scheduled for completion in 2027, increasing Embraer’s capacity to serve its US customers across the country by 53%.  

The investment will reach up to $70 million and is expected to create approximately 250 new aviation jobs in Texas. 

“We are very excited to start operations at our new MRO facility in Fort Worth. The support from the City of Fort Worth, Denton County, and the State of Texas has been essential for launching this operation,” said Frank Stevens, Vice President of Global MRO Centers at Embraer Services and Support. 

Stevens added: “We will continue working to expand Embraer’s capacity, capability, and footprint in the US.”

The new Fort Worth service center is the 13th Embraer-owned service center, one of more than 80 Authorized Service Centers worldwide. Embraer announced details about its latest MRO facility back in November 2024. 

“We are excited to join Embraer in celebrating the launch of their expanded operations at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport. Hillwood’s mission at Alliance Texas is to attract world-class companies while creating new jobs in our region – and Embraer is doing just that,” said Bill Burton, Executive Vice President for Hillwood. 

He added: “Their phased expansion and investment in Fort Worth underscore the strength of our partnerships and Fort Worth’s standing as a center of aerospace excellence.” 

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Fort Worth is historic, with glimpses of its Western heritage found everywhere. It is creative, with some of the best museums in the country. It is industrious, which can be seen in its large factories as well as its grand real estate projects and even in its enterprising small businesses. And it’s growing faster than any other big city in the country.

That makes it a really exciting place to cover, full of interesting stories and colorful characters. But it can also be a challenge to wrap your arms around all the changes that are happening.

That’s why we created the Fort Worth Newsmakers program, now back for its second iteration. This year’s list contains lifelong Fort Worthians as well as newcomers. There are some who left Fort Worth but returned later with ideas to try out. There are even a few who live just outside Fort Worth but are playing major roles in some of the city’s biggest stories. The list was selected purely by newsroom leaders based on our recent coverage; this is not a typical awards program.

The goal with the list is to educate and connect readers, whether you’re a Cowtown insider or someone trying to learn more about this dynamic city from the outside. We expect the Fort Worth Newsmakers to be regular fixtures in our paper as they wrangle with multibillion-dollar projects and tricky challenges — so please reach out with your feedback on this year’s list and who we should consider next year.

2025 Fort Worth Newsmakers

Russell Laughlin

Executive vice president, Hillwood

Trucks, planes and trains move through the 27,000 acres that make up AllianceTexas. And Laughlin is thinking about exactly what technology and infrastructure is needed for the logistics hub in north Fort Worth, both now and in the far future. Part of that effort is being a partner to create a $262 million smart port, an effort to boost the overall supply chain and provide real-time tracking of goods and services as they move through the port. Laughlin plays a critical role in redefining what it means for AllianceTexas to be a modern logistics hub.

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CEO Peter Schmidt insists Torc Robotics is well ahead of its competition in the race to commercialize automated driving system technology for Class 8 trucks. The company intends to equip parent company Daimler Truck’s fifth-generation Freightliner Cascadia tractors with Level 4 ADS systems for sale in the U.S. market by 2027.

“That may seem far away, but it really isn’t,” Schmidt told FleetOwner.

The linchpin in that plan is Torc’s new autonomous trucking hub in Hillwood’s AllianceTexas development. Torc will test and validate autonomous vehicles, educate potential customers, and support self-driving trucks. Schmidt and several other executives convened here May 13 for a historic unveiling and tour of this “transformational” facility. “We’re not just opening one more facility, we’re opening a door to the future—the future of autonomous driving,” Schmidt said to the gathered crowd before cutting a ceremonial ribbon.

The open house included insights into hub and fleet operations and autonomous vehicle safety, stops inside the facility’s customer-experience and mission-control centers, a tractor-trailer trade-show unit with a simulator that illustrates how autonomous trucks interpret inputs and make decisions, and, of course, a selfie station with a Torc-powered Cascadia.

“This hub represents more than just logistics,” Torc CCO Andrew Culhane said. “This represents years of relentless planning, prioritization, feedback from industry experts, and tireless efforts from the Torc team here today, as well as across the U.S. At the end of the day, we truly believe this is the realization of our bold vision—in which we see autonomous trucks revolutionizing the freight industry, making it more efficient, more cost-effective, safer, and more reliable for our customers.”

Autonomos hub 1.0

Torc, headquartered in Blacksburg, Virginia, selected the 22,000-sq.-ft. office on 18 acres off Old Denton Road for its strategic proximity to Interstate 35, which passes through Austin and San Antonio before ending up in Port Laredo, the busiest international trade hub in the United States, with 18,000 commercial trucks crossing daily. Additionally, the location is close to several of the largest distribution centers in the country.

“You need to be here if you want to haul freight,” Schmidt said.

“This is the world capital of freight, it’s the end point of our corridor, from I-35 down to Laredo, and it’s just a wonderful place full of businesses, innovators, opportunities—and great partners.”

The rapidly growing area is also centrally located, allowing Torc to eventually redirect autonomous trucks across the U.S. “This is not only strategic to I-35, but also to our Phase 1 network, with how we want to scale and grow,” said Mack Wintin, Torc director of operations.

Torc began running trucks with test loads out of the facility in April and will soon start managing real loads for early adopters like Schneider and C.R. England, who partnered with Torc on previous pilots. Autonomous trucks will pull loaded trailers from Laredo to Torc’s drop-and-hook hub in Fort Worth, where “driver-in” daycabs will tote them to their final destinations. Ten Torc trailers filled the fenced yard when FleetOwner visited. Schmidt said they’re running a handful of Cascadias out of the facility now but soon will have a sizeable fleet.

“This is Version 1.0 of an autonomous hub,” said Carlo Menconi, Torc program manager.

“These trucks are very similar to manual trucks, but the differences are significant. Calibration, localization, inspection, how they impact hub productivity, and how we get data on and off them are all specific to autonomous trucks. So this is where we’re going to figure out what are those best practices, we’re going to document them, and then the efficiencies will be realized through their enhanced productivity and translated back to our customers.”

Mission command

The location will continue to serve as an innovation and remote-assistance center after Daimler begins selling ADS-equipped trucks to customers in 2027. At that point, Torc’s in-vehicle fallback test drivers will transition to mission management or potentially join customer fleets. “We’d like to populate the larger trucking companies out there with folks who understand autonomous trucks and are able to drive them and help with system implementation in a mixed environment,” said John Marinaro, Torc vice president of fleet operations.

Marinaro and Wintin manage deployment on closed courses—like Continental Tire’s Uvalde Proving Grounds and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s “Smart Roads”—and on public roadways, with help from Torc’s command-center personnel, who oversee the entire autonomous vehicle ecosystem, from pre-departure preparation to post-trip inspection and everything in between.

Remote assistants provide only indirect support during the mission, Torc emphasized.

“A remote assistant can log into the truck, monitor live camera views, and really understand what the truck is seeing and receiving on the road,” said Collin Robinson, Torc senior product manager. “They’ll have health status, location—a ton of information. And that’s going to help the remote assistant do two things: Support any human interactions with inspectors or law enforcement … and assist the truck in ambiguous or complex driving scenarios.”

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Fort Worth is now home to 1 million people, just one of 13 U.S. cities to ever cross the threshold, according to census figures released Thursday. Here’s everything you need to know about Cowtown’s new spot as the 11th largest city in the U.S.

Fort Worth’s rise to a city where people are flocking didn’t happen quickly, easily or by accident. News from the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday that the city has surpassed 1 million residents is a testament to the visionaries who did decades of hard work. They planned in advance for affordable housing, annexing land with an eye to future growth. They collaborated to build a dominant regional airport and one in particular, Ross Perot Jr., created an entire boomtown with the development of Alliance Airport.

Countless others thought ahead to needs such as a business-friendly climate, ample water supply and even investment in the arts. To accommodate the next million Fort Worthians, we’ll need similar vision and an embrace of risk. Rapid growth is straining the region and the city, but it’s not stopping anytime soon. Getting the most out of it requires a new commitment to education, public transport, business recruitment and quality-of-life concerns. It also demands a determination to spread opportunity around more. Growth has understandably been concentrated in certain areas, including Alliance and west Fort Worth. We can’t leave the rest of the city behind.

A COMMITMENT TO BETTER SCHOOLS — IN FORT WORTH ISD AND BEYOND

Fort Worth leaders have been talking more honestly about the state of our schools for nearly a year, spurred by Mayor Mattie Parker’s demand for a renewed focus on literacy in the Fort Worth district.

Those long-languishing schools have been the focus. But student achievement is slipping in suburban districts, too. We can’t continue with the pattern where families cram their way into Northwest, Aledo, Keller or Eagle Mountain-Saginaw schools. Fort Worth ISD, Crowley, White Settlement and others around the city must step up so that more neighborhoods can benefit from growth.

A promising workforce pipeline is a must for recruiting and retaining businesses, which will be the backbone of improvements in the tax base and the city’s overall economic fortune. Every district needs to make big leaps in reading, math and science. Leaders often talk about the unfortunate nature of the city’s property tax base, where residents bear a bigger burden than commercial interests. Changing that requires creating a climate that businesses find irresistible, and no company plants its flag in a place where it will have trouble finding qualified workers.

PUBLIC TRANSIT PROJECTS THAT ENTICE RIDERSHIP

On transportation, it’s hard to see a mature city adding a huge project like a vast rail network. But we can focus on smaller improvements that still move the needle, such as getting people around the Stockyards and downtown to ease the traffic and parking issues there. Leaders should also try to identify projects that will entice workers. It’s harder in the era of remote work and a decentralized workforce, but good transit options can drive people to change their habits.

If we want people to keep coming but also want to stay, quality-of-life issues will be crucial. Across Texas, housing affordability is nearing a crisis. Some market issues are beyond the city’s capacity; state lawmakers, for instance, have to address the skyrocketing cost of insurance. But Fort Worth must encourage responsible, sustainable development that keeps pace with need.

There must also be a balance with amenities that make life here more pleasant. The city has taken steps recently to preserve greenspace. National economic uncertainty may make for budget challenges in the next year or more, but maintaining and expanding parks and recreational facilities are important to making life here satisfying for more than just economic reasons.

As luck would have it, Fort Worth can brag about the population milestone just as it welcomes visitors over the next few weeks for two signature events: the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial golf tournament and the Cliburn international piano competition. Fort Worth’s calling card for tourists has long been cowboys and culture. There’s no reason to let either slip. Our history provides an identity that Fort Worthians can take pride in, but having world-class art museums and performance venues ensures a diversity of attractions.

If current trends continue, Fort Worth will pass Dallas in size — perhaps sooner than most realize. We’ve long known life was better here; let’s make sure, as the city grows ever bigger, that stays true.

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The weather forecast for the week of May 11th in Fort Worth was clear and hot, unlike the week before. The week of May 4th, the skies were darkened by massive storms, dropping almost two inches of rain in a day. On the 11th, the high temperature was 75, and on the 12th, it was 79. But on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, the day Torc cut the ribbon on its newest location – its first autonomous trucking hub – it was a sweltering 97.

Welcome to DFW, everyone said. It’s spring but summer is coming. This is just the beginning.

And they’re right. This is indeed just the beginning.  After 20 years in the robotics business, and six years of software research and development, Torc officially opened the company’s first commercial hub on that hot Tuesday morning, preparing to get their self-driving trucks hauling commercial freight on the I-35 corridor.

As we embark on this next phase, we are more excited than ever to be part of this community, to innovate alongside you, and to continue our mission to Drive the Future of Freight with purpose and passion. – Peter Vaughan Schmidt, CEO

Torc welcomed local dignitaries, government officials, first responders, partners, neighbors from Hillwood’s AllianceTexas development, and many local community members and vendors. Tours were provided through the building, highlighting Torc’s story and history, path to commercialization, job creation, and how the autonomous yard flow will work.

The Hub features a customer experience center, offices, and dedicated control centers for fleet management and operations.  It is located on I-35, the major freight route between Dallas and Laredo, Texas. Laredo is the largest economic port of entry in the US, with more than 15,000 truck crossings per day and $320B in total trade in 2024, and Fort Worth is a major distribution point to the rest of the country.

The Brains of the Operation

One of the stops on the tour was inside the brain of Torc’s Hub, the Mission Management room. Dominated by a movie-theater sized screen with multiple tracking visuals playing simultaneously, the Mission Management room will track the lifecycle of each autonomous mission. Guests learned about the different parts of the mission, from the rigid pre-trip checklist through to the arrival transmissions at the end of a journey. Questions asked and answered included details on job creation over the next year through to customer success models and long-term plans for additional routes.

This hub represents more than just logistics. It represents years of relentless planning and prioritization, input from industry experts, and the dedication and tireless effort of Torc’s teams. It’s the realization of a bold vision—where autonomous trucks revolutionize the freight industry by making it more efficient, cost-effective, safe and reliable. – Andrew Culhane, CCO

The Embodiment of Torc’s Commercialization Era

In the afternoon, after the official guests had toured the facility, Torc’rs welcomed their families and friends in to see their new offices. Everyone played corn hole and giant Connect 4, and ate spicy tacos and snow cones. Our safety drivers introduced their toddlers to their colleagues. Kids and families sat in the truck cab for pictures. People fanned themselves with Torc fans and escaped back inside for the A/C. Together, everyone watched a screening of Torc’s newest video, The Road Rises, playing on Mission Management’s screen. It focuses on the people behind the technology, and celebrates the accomplishments of hundreds of individuals, working together as one Torc team.

The few remaining empty hub offices will soon be filled by new Torc’rs. It will become more bustling, even more energetic. There will be more long hours and longer days, and then it’ll become a 24-hour a day facility. But May 13th was about celebrating getting to this point. It was opening the doors.

The road to Torc’s 2027 market entry is paved with groundbreaking advancements, and a lot of that pavement is in Fort Worth and Texas now. Keep following Torc as we continue to drive the future of freight.

Today isn’t just about opening a new location for Torc — it’s about opening doors to the future. – Peter Vaughan Schmidt

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As one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities, Fort Worth is attracting new businesses and residents through its proximity in the middle of the country, bolstered by its civic pride, Western heritage, tourism, higher education institutions, transportation and technology hubs, and — of course — lots of wide open spaces.

“It’s an incredible time to be in Fort Worth, Texas,” Steve Montgomery, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, said during the organization’s State of Economic Impact: Work, Play, Stay series of panel discussions May 13 at the Kimbell Art Museum’s Renzo Piano Pavilion.

The Fort Worth chamber, Montgomery said, helps expand prosperity and enable companies that call the city home to not only stay here but prosper and grow. 

“Retention and expansion are the core of our mission,” he said.

Fort Worth, he said, is a special place with people interested in getting to know their neighbors and developing personal and business relationships.

“We’re just cresting 1 million folks and we still have that authenticity that makes Fort Worth special,” Montgomery said.

Fort Worth’s strong aviation and aerospace industries are among the main catalysts for city growth since Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport are nationally known transportation hubs for both passengers and freight.

DFW Airport announced two weeks ago that it will expand its new Terminal F from a 15-gate, $1.6 billion facility to become a 31-gate, $4 billion passenger hub. The new vision for Terminal F will supplement the airport’s $12 billion capital plan to rebuild and modernize facilities and infrastructure.

“There’s a lot going on at DFW,” said Ken Buchanan, the airport’s executive vice president for revenue management and customer experience.

Buchanan said new air routes to Hong Kong and Taiwan will have impacts of $400 million each since those services connect to the world’s largest financial markets.

“The good news is that we have both of those flights coming here,” he said in a presentation.

Manufacturing, health care, energy and transportation are also key industries aiding in growth.

Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, said the organization is tasked with recruiting businesses to relocate to the city.

“We want to bring business to Fort Worth,” he said. “We want to help it, help businesses work through the process. So we’ve got to go find it.”

Growth potential in the nation’s 11th largest city seems limitless, Montgomery said.

“As the mayor (Mattie Parker) likes to say, roughly 350 square miles, half of which is not yet developed,” he said. “So we’ve got contiguous acreage close to transit, …. close to rail, close to air cargo and transportation, close to (the) business district.”

People, culture set Cowtown apart in impact

There are countless examples of successful businesses throughout the city, Allen said, citing defense contractors Bell Textron Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp. and their work to provide aircraft for military defense. 

The difference that brings companies to Fort Worth and makes them successful, he said, are the countless “doers” who make an impact. 

“You can go to a city, you can set up a shiny new building, right, and go to work and do what you want to do. But at the end of the day, are you truly positively moving the needle forward in that community? Are you making an impact?” Allen said. “Fort Worth is a city where you can still make an impact. That’s our single greatest proposition, second only to our people.”

Montgomery said Fort Worth is a pro-business city, tackling challenges such as homelessness, for which the chamber created a toolbox for local businesses.

That’s one of the reasons why North Texas is No. 1 for corporate relocations, in addition to the easy access that business executives have to national and global travel through DFW. 

Culture is also important to Fort Worth and its economic future, according to an arts institution leader who addressed the audience. 

Jacques Marquis, president and CEO of the Van Cliburn Foundation, said the globally recognized Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, to be held May 21 to June 7 at TCU, “is a diamond here in Fort Worth.”

The competition, which awards cash prizes and career management packages every four years, is recognized as one of the top two piano competitions in the world.

“We bring the eyes of the world to Fort Worth,” he said during a presentation.

The Van Cliburn, he said, brings a direct economic impact of $15 million to $20 million to Fort Worth. 

Transit, workforce development could bring further growth

Holly Schroeder, vice president of external affairs for DrinkPak, a leading manufacturer of premium alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, said her company expanded its operations in North Texas, because “we knew we wanted to be in the center of the country.”

The company is spending $200 million to open a new location in the Fort Worth area. The facility is at Carter Park East in south Fort Worth and will employ 400 people.

About half of the company’s products stay in Texas, she said.

Higher education plays a role in workforce development to retain businesses, Renee Parker, interim business services director at Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, said.

Fort Worth received a $1.2 million skills development fund grant, the largest in the state, she said. The grant supported 600 people.

Tarrant County College “is at the front line of that,” she said.

In his presentation, Richard Andreski, president and CEO of Trinity Metro, said the transit agency’s infrastructure investments “are producing results.”

The TEXRail passenger train has been successful with a booming transit-oriented development in downtown Grapevine. Businesses close to the station are seeing a big impact in customer sales, he added.

The agency’s Blue Line route will debut June 8 to transport tourists and others around downtown Fort Worth. More investments are needed to bolster the city’s transit routes, he said.

“We’re just beginning to scratch the surface,” Andreski said.

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Now here’s an innovative way to fly cargo across the country: by hitching a ride with a plane that’s going your way.

That’s the idea behind Aerocart, an automated towed cargo glider from Southlake-based Aerolane. The company’s solution may look futuristic, but it’s actually based on the same principles the 82nd Airborne used to tow cargo and soldiers into France on D-Day in World War II.

This week, Aerolane announced that it’s opening a flight operations headquarters at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport. It’s slated to be “a critical testing ground” for Aerolane’s ongoing FAA Supplemental Type Certification process, with a mission of helping the startup launch its first Aerocart cargo glider system for commercial service “later this year.”

“We’re excited to locate our flight operations headquarters at AllianceTexas,” Aerolane Co-Founder and CEO Todd Graetz said in a statement. “It’s a great privilege to operate in one of the nation’s most critical intermodal cargo hubs.”

Leveraging patented technology

Aerolane’s patented Aerocart technology is being built into a series of autonomous towed cargo glider systems “that boost the capacity of existing planes while requiring only a marginally higher fuel burn,” the startup said. To date, the company has flown a range of prototype Aerocarts across “a wide swath” of Texas and Florida since 2022.

The company notes that aviation is entering its second century. Its proposition for what’s next?

“We make it affordable, ubiquitous and clean.”

To achieve that, Aerolane says it started with one big question: Is it possible to enable the capabilites and speed of air at the cost of ground transportation?

Aerocart, it says, is the answer. The company says its autonomous cargo glider “instantly boosts the payload capacity of any flight—with minimal fuel requirements.” A key Aerolane goal is to transform airline asset and crew productivity and network agility, while leading the industry in overall cost savings.

Perot Field is a key part of The MIZ

The world’s first industrial airport, Perot Field offers a wide array of flight services, including air cargo, corporate, and government aviation. It’s the cornerstone of Dallas-based Hillwood’s 27,000-acre AllianceTexas development.

And Aerolane’s pursuit of FAA certification seems to have landed in the ideal place: The airport was born out of a collaboration between Hillwood, the city of Fort Worth, and the FAA itself.

Perot Field is also a key part of the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone (The MIZ). The MIZ is a testing and proving ground for all kinds of next-gen aviation solutions, from delivery drones to electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and more. 

“We’re excited to welcome Aerolane as an operator at Perot Field and the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone, where they can scale and commercialize logistics innovation in one of the world’s most unique multimodal transportation environments,” Christopher Ash, SVP of aviation business development for Hillwood, said in a statement. “At Hillwood, our focus continues to be on bringing innovative supply chain technologies to North Texas while providing next-level amenities to our customers.”

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Aerolane, a Texas-based startup bringing revolutionary productivity and efficiency gains to existing aircraft, is opening a flight operations headquarters at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport. The location will provide a critical testing ground for Aerolane’s ongoing FAA supplemental type certification (STC) process, and help Aerolane launch a first Aerocart cargo glider system for commercial service later this year. 

Aerolane is the pioneer of the patented Aerocart technology, a series of autonomous towed cargo glider systems that boost the capacity of existing planes while requiring only a marginally higher fuel burn. Inspired by the scaled deployment of cargo gliders during World War II, Aerolane has flown a range of prototype Aerocarts across a wide swath of Texas and Florida since 2022. 

Aerolane is launching its flight operations center at Perot Field due to the airport’s unique and critical role in America’s logistics networks.

The world’s first industrial airport, Perot Field, offers a vast array of flight services, including air cargo, corporate, and government aviation, and serves as the cornerstone for the 27,000-acre AllianceTexas development, the nation’s most successful public-private partnership. Born out of a collaboration between Hillwood, the City of Fort Worth and the FAA, Perot Field is now a key part of the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ). The MIZ is an unparalleled ecosystem with comprehensive supply chain capabilities that provides mobility innovators with the infrastructure and strategic partnerships needed to scale and commercialize new technologies, propelling transformational mobility solutions.

AllianceTexas is home to one of the nation’s largest multimodal transportation systems, connecting air (Perot Field), 160+ miles of roads (I-35W/SH-170), and rail (BNSF Alliance Intermodal Facility).

“We are excited to locate our flight operations headquarters at AllianceTexas,” said Todd Graetz, Co-Founder and CEO of Aerolane. “It is a great privilege to operate in one of the nation’s most critical intermodal cargo hubs.”

Hillwood, the developer of AllianceTexas and operator of Perot Field, has also played a crucial role in fostering advancements in mobility, logistics, and aviation. The airport and its co-located intermodal facilities serve as a center of excellence for logistics and transportation technologies, including autonomous trucking and advanced aerial mobility. Combined, this provides an excellent environment for mobility tech companies to test, validate, and scale their products. 

“We’re excited to welcome Aerolane as an operator at Perot Field and the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone, where they can scale and commercialize logistics innovation in one of the world’s most unique multimodal transportation environments,” said Christopher Ash, senior vice president of aviation business development for Hillwood. “At Hillwood, our focus continues to be on bringing innovative supply chain technologies to North Texas while providing next-level amenities to our customers.”

With test flight operations, FAA certification efforts, and future product development centered at Perot Field, Aerolane is positioning itself alongside a distinguished roster of industry leaders shaping the future of logistics and transportation.

About Aerolane

Aerolane is an advanced aviation technology company based in Fort Worth, Texas. It is pioneering the use of towed flight to dramatically reduce the cost and boost the capabilities of existing airplanes. Aerolane was founded in 2021, inspired by the cargo gliders flown by Allied Forces in World War II. Employing modern aviation technologies, Aerolane has proven that towed flight can be used to safely move enormous payloads with dramatically less fuel than standard flight. 

Aerolane’s team includes former senior executives at Amazon and BNSF, and the company is backed by leading private investors with deep experience across the logistics & energy sectors. See more: www.aerolane.com

About Hillwood

Hillwood, a Perot company, is a premier commercial and residential real estate developer, investor, and advisor of properties throughout North America and Europe. With a diverse portfolio of properties and home to many of the world’s leading companies, Hillwood is committed to bringing long-term value to our customers, partners, and the communities we serve.?For more information, please visit www.hillwood.com. 

Hillwood Properties, based in Fort Worth, is a leading real estate developer specializing in industrial-logistics, corporate office, and retail mixed-use development, as well as airport and property management. With a commitment to excellence and innovation, Hillwood has established a reputation for quality development that drives economic growth for communities throughout North Texas. Signature developments include AllianceTexas, Circle T Ranch and Frisco Station. To date, Hillwood Properties has developed and acquired 32 million square feet of industrial, 3.6 million square feet of retail and office and over 4,000 multifamily units. For more information on Hillwood Properties’ flagship development, AllianceTexas, please visit www.alliancetexas.com. 

About Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport

Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport (AFW) is the world’s first industrial airport designed for cargo and corporate aviation traffic. AFW features a vast array of flight services, including air cargo, corporate, private, and military aviation, and is the cornerstone for the nation’s fastest-growing industrial complex and the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone. Owned by the City of Fort Worth and managed by privately held Alliance Air Services, AFW provides state-of-the-art infrastructure and an award-winning FAA air traffic control tower. The attached FBO has been ranked among the finest in the U.S. by industry publications and fuel service providers. For more information, please visit www.perotfield.com.

Torc Robotics is building its autonomous trucking hub at AllianceTexas to serve as the firm’s testing grounds, customer experience center, and fleet management control. The location will serve as a hub for Torc’s plans to commercialize its technology in 2027.

Torc is a Virginia-based independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, founded in 2005, focused on self-driving technology. It is led by CEO Peter Vaughan Schmidt. Alliance has long been known as a magnet for transportation and autonomous driving operations, with a multi-modal port, nearly endless warehouse square footage, and plenty of space to train and test self-driving technology.

Torc joins companies like Aurora, Clevon, Kodiak, and others that have worked with Alliance to launch and develop autonomous transportation products. Torc targeted DFW for its connection on I-35 to Laredo, which is the largest economic port of entry in the U.S. and represented $320 billion in total trade last year, amongst 15,000 truck crossings. The property at Alliance will be built out this year and include a 17-acre facility and 22,000 square feet of office space.

“We had been wanting to work with Torc for a long time, and we finally found a way to work together,” says Ian Kinne, director of logistics innovation at Hillwood. “They’re trying to hit the gas pedal and start commercializing this into a business, and we don’t want just to continue to be a place for testing. We want to be a place for innovators to commercialize their businesses.”

For Schmidt, Alliance met the company’s physical space and technology needs. “I was super impressed to see how many warehouses are up there, and the infrastructure is good for Class A trucking,” he says. “The quality of cable and fiber is important for us because we need to transfer a lot of data from our test hubs. It could be also a cool sandbox to try different operations models.”

Torc is currently in a transition phase as its operations hub moves from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Alliance. Torc had 20 to 25 trucks in operation between Oklahoma City and Phoenix before the move. Torc is scrapping its old fleet as it prepares for commercialization and will launch a new fleet with the move to DFW. Rather than developmental, retro-fitted trucks, the new vehicles will be produced in the factory equipped with all the sensors and technology to operate without a human driver. The plan is to work with the parent company, Daimler, to create a scalable product rather than a hand-built, expensive truck that isn’t ready for mass distribution.

“If you order one truck, you get one. If you order 100, you will get 100,” Schmidt says. “It comes out of an assembly line and is a different quality than everything you see today.”

Schmidt noted that 70 percent of the Torc employees in Albuquerque decided to move to Dallas with the company, demonstrating the employees’ commitment to the mission of the company and DFW’s desirability as a place to live. With operations in Virginia, Michigan, Canada, and other locations, Torc’s trucks are built in Mexico, Cleveland, and North Carolina. Though it owns and operates the vehicles today, Torc doesn’t want to own the trucks when commercialization arrives. It intends to enable the Schneiders and JBLs of the world to do their business more efficiently. With demand for trucking increasing while driver supply dwindles, the technology is essential to the health of the American economy. “We want to win together. We want to progress together. We want to elevate the industry,” Schmidt says.

The move to Texas is all about commercialization. With friendly regulation, miles of highway, and a suitable and experienced partner in Alliance, Torc is poised for a commercial autonomous trucking explosion in 2027. Schmidt sees Torc’s differentiators in its scalability, return on investment, and pricing from the company’s experience in the industry. “We come from the industry and understand trucking well, and we have by far the best price points in terms of hardware and operations,” he says. “In the end, that’s what matters for a fleet. What is the cost of the truck that is autonomous ready? What’s the cost of their software subscription, and what are the other costs to operate it? We have a phenomenal product designed for scalability that will provide clients a payback of less than a year, which is unique.”

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