Airport Experience® News - ACDBE Issue 2026

MERIT FIRST How Gilbert Aranza Has Run Airport Concessions on His Own Terms

Above: A new Whataburger is under construction in Terminal B at DFW, with completion estimated by June 2026.

BY DAVID GORDON

Gilbert Aranza was 16 years old when he took a night janitor job at Dobbs House at what is now George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) , working 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. before heading to school. It was 1969, the airport had just opened, and Aranza stayed through summers, learning every position in the restaurant by filling in for whoever failed to show up. More than five decades later, Aranza, president of Star Concessions , has built an operation that reflects every one of those early lessons. He’s been known to walk visitors through his concessions at Dallas Love Field (DAL) and say, “Let’s go down this escalator—I’ll show you what 30+ years of airport experience has brought you.” The Long Way Around Before airports, Aranza made a detour through the law. He graduated from Harvard Law School, joined Akin Gump in Dallas as a federal tax attorney, and quickly realized the fit was wrong. He left to pursue what he loved and launched two restaurant concepts in Dallas before becoming Pizza Hut’s first Hispanic franchisee. The pull back to airports was deliberate. “I decided I wanted to execute other people’s programs in an environment where we had limited competition,” he says. “That’s when

DAL and DFW came out with proposals. I decided to go all in.” In 1994, the City of Dallas put the entire food and beverage operation at DAL up for bid. Aranza entered without a lobbyist, without a prime partner and with a clear philosophy. “We’re going to win on merit,” he says. “I’m not going to win because somebody is promising somebody money. We’re going to do it the right way. And if we lose, we lose.” He didn’t lose. His proposal scored 92 out of 100; the next closest competitor scored 78. He locked in national brands including McDonald’s , Chili’s and Pizza Hut , and made a commitment that was then essentially unheard of in airport concessions, agreeing to charge no more than 10% above street prices for the same branded products. It signaled that a minority-owned small business could compete against major national operators and beat them cleanly. Six months later, DFW awarded Star Concessions 15 additional food and beverage locations. “I was fortunate that in a matter of six months, I was awarded 30 locations between the two airports,” Aranza says. Star Concessions designed, built and operated more than 30 food and beverage units across both airports in 24 months. In 2003, the company teamed with HMSHost

Above: Gilbert Aranza, president, Star Concessions

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AX NEWS JUNE 2026