"It's faster, it's easier and it's just simply better in terms of when you're on the ground to get on the plane to go to wherever it is you want to go." That's how Avelo Airlines founder and CEO Andrew Levy described flying out of McKinney National Airport when he spoke at the terminal on Sept. 24, 2026.

A shorter drive is only part of what changes for McKinney. The bigger shift is the calendar. The city says Avelo will fly from DTX on Wednesdays through Mondays. Once all nine announced routes are running in mid-December, the published weekly pattern has 32 flights. Twenty-nine of them fall between Thursday and Monday. Tuesday has none.

For anyone in McKinney weighing a trip this winter, the question to ask about DTX is less about where it flies and more about which days it flies there.

The DTX Week, Route by Route

The first five routes came from a City of McKinney release on June 30, 2026. The other four were added on Sept. 24. The table below uses the days in Avelo's own route announcement and the city's schedule.

There's one discrepancy to know about. Community Impact's Sept. 24 report lists Denver on Sundays instead of Saturdays. The airline and the city both say Saturday, so the table follows them. Before booking a Denver weekend, check the day on the live schedule.

Thursday Through Monday Is Where the Seats Are

The Florida and Las Vegas routes make the pattern easiest to see. Orlando and Fort Lauderdale each run five times a week, every day from Thursday through Monday. Las Vegas and Tampa run four times a week, on Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday. That means you can leave for Las Vegas on a Thursday or Friday and fly home Sunday or Monday on this schedule. Orlando and Fort Lauderdale give you a flight on each of those five days, including Saturday.

Nashville and New Orleans are even tighter. Each flies twice a week, on Thursday and Sunday. Those two routes are shaped for a four-day weekend. You leave Thursday and come back Sunday. A different trip length means a full extra week or a different airport.

The aircraft numbers explain why the schedule is this concentrated. Avelo plans to base three 184-seat Boeing 737-800s at McKinney. Three planes can't fly nine routes every day, so the airline put its flying on the days leisure travelers most often want.

Wednesday Belongs to Fort Myers, Atlanta and Denver

The midweek schedule is short. Wednesday has three departures on the published pattern: Fort Myers, Atlanta and Denver. Fort Myers is the odd route. It runs twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday, so a Fort Myers trip from DTX starts or ends on one of those two days.

Atlanta and Denver are the most spread out of the nine routes, with flights on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. That makes them the closest thing DTX has to midweek service, with a Monday-to-Wednesday trip possible on paper. A Tuesday departure from McKinney isn't possible on any route.

The Holiday Calendar Arrives in Two Waves

The opening order matters this year because it lines up so closely with the holidays.

1. Wednesday, Nov. 11. Veterans Day. The terminal opens to the public and the Fort Myers flight goes first.
2. Thursday, Nov. 12. Las Vegas and Orlando begin.
3. Thursday, Nov. 19. Tampa and Fort Lauderdale begin, one week before Thanksgiving.
4. Wednesday, Dec. 16. Atlanta and Denver begin.
5. Thursday, Dec. 17. Nashville and New Orleans begin, eight days before Christmas.

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026. By then, all five November routes are running, and on the weekly pattern, Thanksgiving Thursday is a flight day for Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa. For the December routes, the window is narrower. Atlanta and Denver will have flown about a week before the holiday rush, and Nashville and New Orleans will have had one weekend of service. The published releases list regular weekly days only, so check holiday-week flights against the airline's live schedule before you treat any one as certain.

Avelo has also advertised introductory one-way fares starting at $99, plus a free first checked bag on eligible DTX travel. Restrictions apply, and the purchase deadline is Oct. 12, 2026.

Getting to 1910 FM 546

The terminal is at 1910 FM 546, McKinney, on a dedicated passenger access road off FM 546. Visit McKinney lists U.S. 380 and U.S. 75 as the main approaches.

Here are the practical details from airport director Ken Carley's Sept. 24 briefing, as reported by Community Impact:

• Parking. There are 980 public spaces at $15 a day, paid through a contactless system. The airport's FAQ page still says rates are to be determined. The $15 figure is the newer one.
• Rental cars. Enterprise will run the on-site rental counter.
• Terminal size. The terminal covers 46,000 square feet and opens with four gates, with room for a fifth and sixth.
• Art. Two murals by Texas-based artists will hang at the curbside and in baggage claim.
• Airport codes. Book commercial flights under DTX. The TKI code still covers general aviation at the same field, and the airport's existing website is still flytki.com.

The size of the building puts the schedule in context. Carley said the terminal is designed for up to 1 million passengers a year. Earlier Community Impact reporting projected 200,000 passengers in the first year. On opening day, that leaves room for about five times the expected traffic. The four-gate layout and the empty Tuesday reflect a first year, not the building's limit.

What Still Has to Finish Before Nov. 11

As of early October, the terminal hadn't opened. Every date above is a scheduled date, not a flight that has already happened.

Several milestones are done. On Sept. 24, the FAA's Southwest Region Airports division presented McKinney with its airport operating certificate, which is required for commercial service. Ignacio Flores of the FAA said no Texas airport had received one in more than 20 years. The 8,002-foot runway extension is finished.

Other pieces were still in motion. In September, Carley said construction was underway on Taxiway C, which connects the terminal ramp to the runway. He also said the airport was "days away" from a temporary certificate of occupancy, which would let vendors start building out their spaces. On Oct. 6, the Dallas Business Journal reported that city officials had approved the final agreements for rental cars, concessions and additional construction. Officials warned that a delay could put the planned launch at risk.

So the $79 million terminal has its federal certificate, its airline and its route map. In early October, the remaining work was the food, retail and final construction that make the building usable on opening day. For a trip in the first weeks after Nov. 11, it's reasonable to expect that some concessions may still be filling in.

Our team at Patton International Properties has watched McKinney grow for decades, and Nov. 11 changes how easily people here can travel. If you're curious how DTX and its access along FM 546 and U.S. 380 might affect the parts of McKinney you're considering, we're glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.