Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is installing dedicated Islamic foot wash stations inside Terminal D restrooms, adding low-level basins designed for the ritual washing that precedes Muslim daily prayers. The project, expected to begin later this month, is privately funded and carries an estimated cost of $300,000, according to a state filing, with completion targeted for December 31, 2026.
The plan was first reported by The Dallas Morning News, which covered the filing as part of its aviation beat. Terminal D, used primarily for international flights and serving as the central hub for American Airlines, will see one ablution station added to its existing women's restroom and another added to its existing men's restroom, both on the concourse level. DFW Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment, per that report.
State regulatory records add further detail to the project's footprint. The official registration filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation lists project number TABS2026026706, covering 170 square feet of concourse-level restroom space in Terminal D. The project was registered on July 31 by the City of Dallas and DFW Airport as owner, and it was designed by Fort Worth-based architecture firm Ghafari Associates, LLC.
Why Airports Build Low Basins
Wudu, the ritual washing Muslims perform before daily prayers, requires cleaning the hands, face, and feet. Without dedicated low basins, international travelers often use standard restroom sinks, which can crack porcelain countertops and leave water pooling on tile floors — a slip hazard that airport safety advocates and regulatory documentation point to as the practical rationale for building separate, low-level stations, according to Tippah News.
DFW is not new to accommodating the practice. The airport's Terminal D Interfaith Chapel near Gate D40 already houses two wudu stations, installed when the chaplaincy reopened in 2019 alongside Qibla directional markers and prayer rugs, per the DFW Airport Interfaith Chaplaincy. The new concourse restrooms will expand those existing ablution options rather than replace them.
Commercial renovation projects in Texas valued over $50,000 fall under Texas Government Code Chapter 469, which requires registration with TDLR under Texas Accessibility Standards and inspection by a Registered Accessibility Specialist within a year of completion — the same regulatory track this project is following.
How Other Airports Compare
DFW is following a pattern already established at other major U.S. hubs. Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport opened a dedicated ablution room in Terminal D near Gate D15 in February 2024, featuring blue quartz tiling, benches, luggage storage, and direct access to an interfaith prayer room, according to the Houston Airport System. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport opened its second multifaith prayer and meditation room, this one in Concourse C, earlier this month, incorporating a foot-washing station, shoe racks, and Mecca directional indicators as part of an $11 million concourse expansion led by the Port of Seattle.
Chicago O'Hare International Airport and the Indianapolis airport already offer similar wash stations, a point that proponents raised in the wake of the DFW filing to argue the basins are a routine facility solution rather than a novel accommodation. That framing has run alongside pushback from conservative commentators, and coverage of the story spread quickly across news outlets in mid-August, according to Voz.us.
Scale Behind the Project
The debate is unfolding against the backdrop of DFW's sheer size. The airport handled more than 85.6 million passengers in 2025, keeping its place as the fourth busiest airport in the world by total passenger volume, according to Airports Council International World. Terminal D has been the site of several recent capital investments tied to that international traffic, including an 18,000-square-foot Chase Sapphire Lounge that opened last month.
Ghafari Associates, the firm designing the new wash stations, has a history of DFW capital work, including passenger walkway lighting features previously installed in Terminal E. The firm maintains an office in Fort Worth and works frequently on airport terminal projects, according to the company's own project history.
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