Move up ETA for upgrades, expansion at S.A. airport
If we have one critique of the newly approved master plan for the San Antonio International Airport, it’s that it is not bold or urgent enough.
We wish the timeline were shorter, the expansion larger and the vision bolder.
To be clear, the master plan is welcome. It’s overdue. We just wish it were more masterful. Our airport, set in the heart of the city and yet squeezed between airports in Houston, Dallas and now Austin, is underwhelming and underperforms.
It’s far too small for the seventh-largest city in the United States or the 24th-largest metropolitan area. When it comes to enplanements, the San Antonio airport ranked 44th in the nation for calendar year 2019, according to Federal Aviation Administration data. In 2020 — a weird year for flying — the San Antonio airport was 46th for enplanements. Not surprisingly, San Antonio lags in nonstop destinations.
And while our proximity to airports in Houston and Dallas — and now Austin — will always create some headwinds, the airport’s size and lack of nonstop destinations are undeniable drags on commerce and business development. It simply is inadequate for a fastgrowing metro area of more than 2.5 million people.
That’s why we also support the $2.5 billion master plan to expand San Antonio International Airport over the next 20 years. The plan, which City Council approved last week, calls for adding a third terminal; replacing the dreary, narrow and crowded Terminal A; expanding one of the airport’s runways to 10,000 feet to attract more international flights; and adding more amenities.
Under this plan, total gates would expand from 24 to 37. All to the good, and yet we wonder if this expansion is bold enough. If by 2040, the San Antonio metro area is home to 4 million people, will future leaders be having the same old conversations about the inadequacies of our airport, the lack of nonstop destinations and gates compared with other major markets? We wonder.
Does the 20-year timeline reflect the urgency of the project? The third terminal wouldn’t be constructed until 2027. Terminal A would not be remodeled until 2031.
Perhaps that’s as quick as the city can go given the need for federal approval, as well as planning and design work — but it’s still a long time to wait.
We’d also like to see much more substantive discussion about linking the expanded airport with rapid transit lines — and, no, we’re not referring to Elon Musk’s hyperloop. Too often the conversation around rapid transit in this town is too vague.
As we look to San Antonio’s future, we see four major economic development concerns: improving air service, growing an educated workforce, dramatically improving and expanding public transportation, and becoming a home to more than one major league sports franchise.
In 2020, voters overwhelmingly approved shifting sales tax dollars to workforce development and public transit. This airport master plan seeks to remedy longstanding concerns about air travel here. And on the sporting front, the city just needs to find a way to score a goal, hit a home run or pound the ball into the end zone.
So, yes, the master plan is a step in the right direction. But let’s pick up the pace and take bigger steps. Where is the urgency?