Survey results (alone) are not "facts" in which an airline is going to take seriously. They're going to look at actual passenger movements as well as the long-term potential to sustain a route. That will provide a base on which to argue said specific route.

Having short runways & AUS already having about 22 flights to Europe per week (with more routes coming in the next few years), it's going to be a tough sell.

I too would try and push routes to Central & potentially South America from SAT. The latter may also fall subject to SATs current runway length.

Considering AUS, a more viable solution would be a high-speed rail connection between downtown SA, SAT, New Braunfels, San Marcos, AUS and Round Rock, with a Capital Metro link to downtown Austin. (But this idea always fails because people apparently enjoy sitting in their cars in traffic.)

I absolutely love that idea. At some point, it should really, seriously, be considered. I know attempts have been made in the past. But, maybe as traffic gets even worse, people (and governments) will be forced to take a true look at it as an option.

San Antonio gaining nonstop flights to key Mexican city
 

It appears y'all are getting a new international airline::tup:


Viva Aerobus is launching new nonstop flights from San Antonio International Airport to Monterrey, Mexico.

The new flights will begin June 26 with two flights on Monday and Friday departing SAT at 8:15 a.m. Fares will start at $99 each way.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2020/02/13/san-antonio-gaining-nonstops-flights-to-key.html

San Antonio International Airport has landed a new airline — but if the name VivaAerobus sounds familiar, it’s because the airline has launched service twice before on the nonstop route to Monterrey, Mexico, only to later terminate it.

The new, twice-weekly flights will start June 26


https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/VivaAerobus-launches-San-Antonio-to-Mexico-15055674.php

Great News! Keep growing SAT! Keep doing what your doing! Dont worry about what people are saying about what other airports in other cities are doing!

That's essentially a regional flight, but it makes sense for SAT to be the destination because it's the closest airport and because of San Antonio's large Mexican-American population. Technically it's an international flight, so that's a good bragging right. :cheers:

Agree. Just wish it was a FAR better airline than VivaAerobus servicing the route. Let's be honest...it's a sketchy airline at best.

There used to be a great yahoo group dedicated to the SAT airport. Does anyone know what happened to it?

A certain airline answered internally a question from an Employee that SAT is on their list for service in the future.

Dun dun dun.

I’ve lived in SA twice and consider it a second home, so I enjoy following it.

I know that here in Sacramento, our problem isn’t how many Trans Atlantic or Trans Pacific bound passengers from Sacramento are using San Francisco International for non stop flights to Europe and Asia Nor how many people are flying from Sacramento to NY, Chicago or Atlanta then connecting to Europe. There are plenty of economy passengers heading to Europe and Asia, but there’s not a large business class market (at least for Europe). That’s the backbone that the airlines depend upon to make routes profitable. I’m guessing that’s San Antonio’s problem as well. The good news is that San Antonio has a strong corporate base, but who knows if there are sufficient numbers flying Business Class to Europe and Asia from SAT. The airlines have that data though.

San Antonio’s relative position in South Texas would seemingly make it an attractive hub for flights to Central and South America. Secondly, I’m not sure whether the shorter runways would still be a problem for larger aircraft since the Dreamliner is made of lighter composite materials? Hot Summers do pose a problem for lift because of the thin air though. If SA and Bexar County want to expand the runways though, it can get down.

The biggest obstacle facing any city trying to lure new trans oceanic flights will be the current direction of the economy. Flybe in the UK has ceased operations today because the tourist industry is bottoming out due to the Coronavirus. I’m betting a lot of airlines will put expansion on hold and more airlines might find themselves having to cut flights and layoff employees. Lastly, there’s a lot of pressure in the UK to cut carbon emissions by cutting the number of flights. The runway expansion Heathrow was hoping to move forward with was recently blocked by the courts there.

Who's the "certain" airline?

The last time there was a "MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT" we got stuck with Sun Country.

If this is anything I bet it's the return of Spirit Airlines

That was my first thought. Hah, "stuck" with Sun Country. Love it. At least SAT got Portland out of that announcement!

I'll fly Spirit on a flight that's 90 minutes or less. Anything more is an assault on my humanity.

They have a huge love for BOS. Doubt anything happens this year though due to Corona cuts. Late 2021 possibly.

Aaaaaah.... the elusive BOS route! If Jetblue makes it down to SAT... that would be saying something about the market in a big way I think.

January 2020 stats out, passenger count down 0.3%

https://www.sanantonio.gov/Portals/0...-27-161005-977

Other airport news, Aeromexico is increasing SAT-MEX from 1 to 2x daily starting in June.

Alaska is reducing SAT-SEA service in September from 2 to 1x daily.

Delta is bringing A220 service on SAT-DTW in April. AFAIK, this would be the first scheduled A220 service in SAT.

United is increasing SAT-IAD from 2 to 3x daily in September.

San Antonio's airport seems small for its metro area. It's the main airport for South Texas in addition to San Antonio. Does anyone else feel the same way? Have there been any plans to expand it or build a new one?

Unfortunately we're about 20 to 25 years behind the three major Texas cities.

No I do not think we are.

Texas has two cities with world class airports because one is a hub for foreign conglomerates’ North American headquarters and the other is the energy capital of the country and arguably the work.

Then you have a strong capitol city with a thriving technology economy...

Then you have a thriving middle sized metro that has made great strides in income growth which has bolstered our airport. San Antonio has had to overcome being a blue collar poor city and for whatever reason only half the city has. Everyone knows we are a tale of two cities segregated by geography and income.

Is it fair to call San Antonio a blue collar poor city? I thought manufacturing was a solid middle class economic base, not to mention the innumerable military bases. I wonder if San Antonio can ever develop like San Diego. What do you think?

Because of the current state of the world economy as a result of the ongoing health crisis, the airline industry will struggle to get back to anything close to the vitality they only recently experienced. Therefore, airports, big and small, will be badly hurt by the dearth of flights, both local and domestic, in the coming months and years. This shock to the industry will result in an overall contraction not unlike what 9/11 did, which took over a decade for a recovery to recent levels. Couple that with the fact that most US airports depend on local and state tax revenue for some of their support and, with the undoubtedly decrease in tax revenue due to the employment situation, airport budgets will be on the chopping block, at least for the foreseeable future.

Bottom line, discussions about airport capacity and size will likely be about too much capacity and excesses for a long time to come.

Yes, completely fair. Our per capita income is 182nd among the nation's metro areas, down among the likes of Victoria TX, Amarillo TX and New Orleans:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._capita_income

We have some manufacturing here, but blue collar doesn't just refer to manufacturing jobs. It's also the call centers/back office ops and hospitality industry stuff that make up the backbone of the private sector economy here. As for military jobs, they're certainly a decent way to make a living, particularly when you consider the benefits. But I don't think many people are getting rich off Air Force paychecks.

San Antonio isn’t a blue collar metropolitan, that stigma needs to end already.

Half of it is and the other half is not.

First, why is "blue collar" a stigma?

Second, if San Antonio isn't blue collar, what is it, the epicenter of tech??

This is not true. I’m not even sure what it’s even supposed to mean other than 50% to 50%, which itself is untrue.

Again, this isn’t a perception thing, it’s a numbers thing. San Antonio isn’t blue collar.

I don’t have an answer for your first question, if just is.

As to your second point, we’ll, that is not only a loaded question, it’s just purposely sardonic. Doesn’t even deserve a response to be honest.

Actually, it's an honest question. What is San Antonio if not blue collar, in your opinion? Either you have an answer or not, but don't deflect by blaming me for your lack of an answer.

People like you are the answer to the first question, who view blue collar as a stigma. San Antonio is very blue collar, as well as white collar, and other descriptors, and there in nothing wrong with that, or pointing it out.

ETA: I'm not denying that other industries outside of blue collar are growing rapidly here, Bioscience and Bio Terrorism among the top. But to deny our blue collar standing is silly, and again, there is nothing wrong it.

If the two choices are either blue or white and I said San Antonio isn’t a blue collar city, I wouldn’t think I’d have to then explain what San Antonio is. I would assume by a simple process of elimination, the answer would be a given.

It’s simple, the majority of jobs in San Antonio are white collar.

That’s why I can say as a fact, San Antonio isn’t a blue collar city.

That is a provable fact.

Now, I feel you’ll find some way to argue that it’s false or incorrect or not a true representation.

Aside from all that. It’s the year 2020 and I don’t even think collars even apply anymore, so in the end it’s rather pointless imo.

But, if we are using those identifiers, San Antonio is WHITE COLLAR and that’s not a matter of opinion.

Restless, it seems you’re confusing white collar with tech. Tech isn’t the only job sector considered “white collar”. There are others.

Also, what people traditionally considered white and blue collar has evolved and as I said before, those terms have basically become antiquated relics.

You're probably correct about them being useless terms, and if you'd said that, I wouldn't have objected. If you'd simply stated that SA is white collar, based on jobs numbers, again, no objection.

What mainly triggered me was the implication that "blue collar" is somehow a derogatory term.

I think we can agree that SA has made great strides, in a relatively short period of time, of getting better paying jobs here, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

I never said it was a derogatory term. You’re putting words in my mouth. I said the notion of being a “blue collar city” carries a stigma with it. IMO, it does.

I actually tried to end the argument, but you persist, so how is stigma not derogatory?

Oh, sorry, that's sardonic and not worthy of a response, so I'll answer for you:

It isn't.

In case you want to argue that point, I'll leave you with the definition of stigma:

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/stigma?s=t

But, yes, you are absolutely, incontrovertibly, correct, we are not a poor blue collar city, we are a poor white collar city.

Can we end this now?

I did not continue any argument. I simply stated you out words in my mouth by saying I called something derogatory when I didn’t. Instead of leaving it at that you decided to display very juvenile behavior in your very unnecessary response.

Saying a word has a stigma attached to it is not the same as that word being a derogatory term. The fact that I again have to state something quite obvious and not even up for debate is somewhat mind-blowing to be.

With that, I am finished with our little back and forth, I suspect you will provide one last retort, so have at it.

Yes, I will. First, edit your responses so that they are coherent.

Second, I suspect you knew full well what "stigma" means, and thus you put the words in your own mouth. Own it for God's sake.

You are a steward of this forum, and thus held to a higher standard. Don't get defensive when a fellow poster calls you out on your statements. Own them or not, but don't blame me for YOUR choice of words.

What is San Antonio's economic development strategy for the next ten years? Is it to emulate Austin and attract high tech companies? Or is there some way for San Antonio to be complementary to Austin?

San antonio will follow it's own path. Why must we be complimentary to anyone else. San antonio isn't Austin's suburb.:shrug:

Guys, this is the San Antonio Transportation thread. Keep things on topic please.

Well I predicted this fairly accurately; but it wasn’t difficult because the signs were there. In this case I wish I were wrong. The airline industry (as we knew it) might never recover.

The airline industry will recover. It's a necessary vehicle in the global economy. But, it might be decades before we are blessed with the growth we saw prior to COVID-19. Even with all that growth, there were several airlines which fell into financial trouble in part due to expanding too fast.

San Antonio has several industries that are twice the size of Austin's Tech industry in economic output.

Since you brought it up - and I'm curious - which specific industries (of the several noted) produce an economic impact of twice that Austin's tech industry?

I know that in 2018, the Bioscience/Healthcare, Military/Defense and Advanced Manufacturing Industries had more of a raw economic impact on San Antonio than the Tech Industry did on Austin. But, it was nowhere near double. And let's be fair...SA still has an edge in the overall employment pool. It would be interesting to see these numbers on a per capita basis in order to get a more fair analysis.

Also, if I'm not mistaken...the Tech industry accounts for only 24% of the Austin economy.

I was having a look on my flight radar app last week and in perfect timing, noticed an El Al 787 taxiing bound for Tel Aviv and another was en route here to SAT. I'm just curious if anyone noticed any of these random aircraft in town? I assume they were here for maintenance purposes but anyone's guess is as good as mine.

Cheers!

Apparently there were 4 flights, all cargo. Interesting read. Glad someone got some photos of El Al in town.

https://airlinegeeks.com/2020/05/21/...cargo-flights/

great article, thank you for sharing! I wish we had the passenger traffic to support 787 flights out of SA

Well It's Starting....
 

Well It's Starting....It appears we've lost Allegiant and Alaska airlines.

Cities push back as airlines seek dozens of new service cuts.

As cities reopen and air travel gradually picks up, the government is on the cusp of giving final approval to a lengthy list of cities that could lose some of their airline service....Some cities could take multiple hits...


https://www.yahoo.com/news/cities-pu...201716692.html

Great read, thanks for posting. Hats off to our airport management team for their quick actions!

Dang it.

Two airlines are dropping San Antonio (temporarily) - Alaska & Allegiant.

https://onemileatatime.com/us-airlin...ens-of-cities/

These same airlines are dropping New Orleans as well.

https://www.expressnews.com/business...n-15301696.php

Alaska got the okay to drop SAT, but has yet to do so. From the article, an Alaska spokeswoman said, “Again, we do not plan to suspend service right now, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for additional flexibility during these uncertain times,”. They've been serving SAT-SEA recently, with a stop in ABQ. They recently unveiled their July schedule which shows SAT-SEA nonstop once per day. Hopefully this stays.