Elaine Rodriguez was looking for a new job in 2011 when a recruiter asked if she was interested in being the general counsel of DFW International Airport.
“I was curious why the airport would be interested in me, since I had never worked in government and knew nothing about airports other than which ones had great duty-free shops,” Rodriguez told The Texas Lawbook. “DFW Airport was looking for someone with a business background rather than a municipal government background like my predecessor. So much of what goes on the airport is business — concessions leasing, commercial development, the parking business, construction, oil and gas, etc.”
“The more I learned, the more intrigued I became. And after years of doing annual reports and proxy statements, I thought it might be interesting to learn new things,” she said. “And, boy, have I learned new things.”
Rodriguez faced a huge test only four months into the job when American Airlines, which carries 80% of the 87 million passengers through DFW Airport, filed for bankruptcy.
“It was a wake-up call,” Rodriguez said.
The 14 years since have been filled with steep challenges and major achievements, including:
- The Covid-19 pandemic, which slashed air traffic by 50% in 2020 and endangered the jobs of its 2,000 DFW Airport employees.
- Expanded Terminal D, which handles primarily international flights, adding four gates in 2021;
- Renovated and modernized a portion of Terminal C in 2022.
- Supervised and played a critical role in the issuance of more than $10 billion in bond issuances..
- Negotiated and signed 10-year use and lease agreements in 2023 with American Airlines and 43 other passenger and freight airlines that use the airport — contracts that included preapproved capital investments to modernize existing terminals and make much-needed infrastructure improvements. In 2025, extended the agreement to 2043 and increased the Terminal F investment to $4 billion, creating DFW’s future terminal experience.
- Saw the approval of a historic $12 billion capital investment plan to modernize and expand airport facilities and infrastructure, delivering comprehensive upgrades to airfield, terminal, and roadway systems to support future growth and create a world-class travel experience.
And in the recent winter storm, DFW Airport saw nearly 4,000 flights cancelled or delayed.
“There is no shortage of challenges,” Rodriguez said.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook recently honored Rodriguez with the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.
“Elaine is, in many ways, an important hub of the airport, and through her flows information necessary to keep the airport in compliance with federal securities rules and to complete their many disclosure documents relating to bond sales,” said Bracewell partner Julie Partain, who nominated Rodriguez for the honor. “She takes the airport’s continuing compliance with its disclosure obligations very seriously and works with us to help make sure all departments within the airport are also aligned.”
Travelers walk between gates of Terminal E at DFW Airport on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
Paul Tomme, who has been legal counsel for DFW Airport for nearly 30 years, said the range and complexity of legal issues that face Rodriguez regularly are astounding. The issues range from constitutional issues (free speech rights involving advertising, picketing and protesting) and employment law to personal injury claims and the thousands of contracts that she must review and approve annually.
Tomme said the real estate and bond issuance issues and the regulatory matters are extraordinary.
“Elaine rides herd over numerous bond lawyers and construction lawyers, as well as advising board members and senior executives of both federal and state law regarding contracting, [and that] is a challenging task,” Tomme said. “Fortunately, Elaine has many years of experience in both securities law and capital development programs. Such programs cannot be done in isolation and require multiple teams, some with competing objectives. Elaine has put together teams under her area of responsibility that are the best in their fields, and she works long hours to study and understand their work products.”
“There are times, especially with respect to bond issuances, when financial markets rely on her signature, among others, and she is acutely aware of the gravity of her responsibilities,” he said.
Rodriguez was born in Oklahoma and raised on a farm just north of Tulsa.
Her father was in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and flew cargo planes in the South Pacific Theatre. During the Korean Crisis, he served as a flight instructor in France. After retiring from military service, her parents purchased a farm near Sperry, Okla., and her dad worked for the National Bank of Tulsa. Her mother grew up in Eastland, Texas, and earned her B.A. in Music from the University of Evansville in Indiana. She was a principal soloist at several churches, directed choirs, taught private voice lessons and taught elementary and high school music.
“Growing up on a farm, I learned the value of hard work early on,” Rodriguez said. “Everyone is expected to pitch in and do chores. I was driving tractors, hauling hay, feeding animals, repairing fences, working in the garden at a very young age. There are no days off or vacations. But the work is satisfying in that, at the end of the day, you can actually see and take pride in what you accomplished.”
The summer before her junior year in high school, her dad retired from banking and they moved to a cattle ranch in Southeastern Oklahoma, near Poteau.
During her junior year in high school, Rodriguez got a job working for the Poteau News & Sun, a local bi-weekly newspaper.
“I did everything you can imagine at a small-town newspaper — wrote stories, took photos and even delivered the newspapers to local grocery stores when it was published on Wednesdays and Saturdays,” she said. “I also covered the courthouse. I’d go to the LeFlore County Courthouse each week to get the names of folks who got marriage licenses or who had been arrested. That gave me the opportunity to get to know the sheriff, county judge and some of the local lawyers.”
At that point, Rodriguez planned to pursue a career in journalism, but it gave her an early exposure that definitely piqued an interest in the law.
After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in communications from Loyola University in New Orleans, Rodriguez earned her law degree from neighboring Tulane University in 1982.
Rodriguez spent five years as a corporate associate at Akin, Gump, Straus, Hauer & Feld in Dallas and then a year at Atlas & Hall.
Zoecon, the Swiss pharmaceutical and chemical giant now known as Novartis, had been one of Rodriguez’s clients at Akin and Atlas & Hall. In 1991, the company hired her as its general counsel.
In 1993, the wireless communications company CellStar hired Rodriguez as its first general counsel. During her 14 years at CellStar, the company grew revenues from $224 million to $2.28 billion.
In 2008, Rodriguez joined another wireless communications firm, EF Johnson Technologies, when a private equity group took the company private in early 2011.
Then came the call from the recruiter for the DFW Airport job in the summer of 2011.
Rodriguez said she is “particularly proud” of how the airport handled the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw demand for passenger air travel plummet.
“We made the decision to support our concessionaires who depend on passengers to keep their businesses alive, giving significant breaks on rent,” she said. “We received approximately $615 million in federal relief proceeds, which we used to offset the negative impact of the pandemic on airline rates and charges. We made hard decisions to reduce operating costs but also made a commitment to keep all of our employees. We also had to navigate the rapidly changing landscape of federal, state and local health and safety regulations and orders.”
The biggest change during the past 14 years, according to Rodriguez, relates to innovation and technology.
“Our business folks are focused on finding innovative ways to deliver services to passengers,” she said. “But, as a governmental entity, we don’t have the same flexibility that private sector businesses have, particularly in procurement. A big part of my job is trying to help our business folk achieve their goals but always in compliance with applicable law and regulations. As with all in-house counsel, cybersecurity has also become a major focus for us.”
The Texas Lawbook is an online news publication focused on business law in Texas. For a longer version of this story, visit texaslawbook.net.
