Wings Project Expands Southwest’s HQ

Simulators are installed on 24” slabs isolated from the rest of the building (credit: Erika Brown).

DALLAS—After a two-year span, McCarthy Building Companies Inc. recently completed the Southwest Airlines Wings project located adjacent to Love Field Airport, expanding Southwest’s campus headquarters. The project consists of a new office building along with a Leadership Education and Aircrew Development/LEAD Center.

The complex includes a six-story 425,000-square-foot office building, a 1,950-space parking garage and an attached 375,000-square-foot LEAD building that houses 18 flight simulator bays. These flight simulators will be used to train pilots on existing and new aircraft added to Southwest’s fleet. The simulators are installed on 24-inch slabs isolated from the rest of the building in order to provide the necessary support due to the high reactions generated by the machinery and avoid impact to the balance of the building’s structural system.