AUSTIN | ABIA Updates

[freerover]

Sorry Guys. I was thinking about the literal tens of thousands of people who now have homes in Mueller, the small businesses, the new school etc. I hadn't considered how a few low view Austin based YouTube channels could have a shorter commute to their hobby. I guess I am the asshole here.

AUS has private aviation as does the executive airport. There is 0 good reasons for muller to still be operational.

[masonh2479]

Originally Posted by freerover

Sorry Guys. I was thinking about the literal tens of thousands of people who now have homes in Mueller, the small businesses, the new school etc. I hadn't considered how a few low view Austin based YouTube channels could have a shorter commute to their hobby. I guess I am the asshole here.

AUS has private aviation as does the executive airport. There is 0 good reasons for muller to still be operational.

Of course now it wouldn’t make sense, Birds Nest is now Executive and is thriving East of town. It’s not like Austin is an island and there is no more room for houses. I hate to see airports go, I wish I had gotten to see Mueller before it got bulldozed.

You, like every one of us have an opinion, and you could voice that like an asshole or normally. Shame you choose option 1 most of the time. Your not an asshole for what you said but how you said it. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you use sarcasm and an attitude towards other users. Anyways, I’m done.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by masonh2479

Of course now it wouldn’t make sense, Birds Nest is now Executive and is thriving East of town. It’s not like Austin is an island and there is no more room for houses. I hate to see airports go, I wish I had gotten to see Mueller before it got bulldozed.

You, like every one of us have an opinion, and you could voice that like an asshole or normally. Shame you choose option 1 most of the time. Your not an asshole for what you said but how you said it. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you use sarcasm and an attitude towards other users. Anyways, I’m done.

There is no other 6000 acres available for housing anywhere in Austin's core. or anywhere nearly as close to the core.

The idea that location doesn't matter, and we can always just sprawl out another 50 miles is the major cause of many of America's problems, and leads to Houston.

That ignores all the other problems with using the Mueller location for an airport (flightpaths and noise over the nearby neighborhoods). ABIA will be a short light rail ride from downtown, it's as close as it needs to be.

If and when there's any push for a second airport for Austin, I'd expect a resurrection of the Austin/San Antonio regional airport in the middle concept. But again, I sort of doubt it happens.

[SproutingTowers]

The way the Austin metro is growing northbound perhaps expand Georgetown Municipal Airport as a future second commercial airline airport.

[KevinFromTexas]

I'm an aviation geek and I had fond memories of Mueller. We used to go and sit and watch jets land from some of the business parking lots across I-35 from the airport. And our vet is located in Hyde Park, and as a little boy I'd sit outside on the railing of their deck and watch the planes come in directly overhead. Still, with Bergstrom opening, I think Mueller would have been rather redundant, at least, location wise. I think it's a fair suggestion at having airports in say Kyle or Georgetown to help with the overflow at Bergstrom.

On another note, I've been watching this guy's videos on Youtube, and I really enjoy them.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCovVc-qqwYp8oqwO3Sdzx7w

[psychlotron]

I think San Marcos airport may be a candidate for future expansion. According to wikipidea it's sitting on 1393 acres. The runways are too short/narrow right now but could be expanded.

Assuming the future goal might be to have an airport between SA and ATX, this seems like a pretty good spot.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by psychlotron

I think San Marcos airport may be a candidate for future expansion. According to wikipidea it's sitting on 1393 acres. The runways are too short/narrow right now but could be expanded.

Assuming the future goal might be to have an airport between SA and ATX, this seems like a pretty good spot.

San Marcos' airport is far too close to ABIA and too far away from Austin's population center to even be considered a possibility for Austin's second commercial airport.

Also...for the love of the good Lord above...please stop "assuming." There is no "goal" of having a major/joint airport between Austin and SA. San Antonio is the only one who would benefit from said development between the two cities. Austin doesn't need it (ABIA has the ability to grow to almost the size of ATL) and they have said as much.

San Antonio lost out on that plan in the mid-1990's (and maybe even further back). In the mid-1990's (when they were thinking of leaving Mueller), Austin approached SA with that idea of a joint airport between the two cities. San Antonio basically responded with sarcastic laughter.

It's never going to happen.

[freerover]

Yea, AUS can just keep running parallel concourses forever. I wonder though about air growth in the next 50 years. Millennials and Gen Zers both really want major investments in high speed rail and you're starting to see the sees of that in Washington. It's unknown what the effect that could have on how people move.

[hookem]

Originally Posted by DoubleC

From other accounts, the DC10 was actually a common sight at RMM for years..

Yeah AA flew it between AUS-DFW daily (maybe multiple times daily) in the 80s and early 90s. A lot of commuters used it back then. I guess the larger plane instead of frequency made more sense then.

I also have fond memories of Mueller, even though it wasn’t even at the level you’d expect of a mid-size city airport. The tower was pretty, but the terminal was cramped. I remember especially traveling SWA out of the rotunda shaped terminal extension. The rest of the airport, while somewhat dumpy, was professional compared to the bus-station vibe of that extension. Always smelled like popcorn because they had a popcorn machine there.

[DoubleC]

Originally Posted by Mopacs

There are some good shots of planes landing/departing Mueller in this clip

https://youtu.be/WZ_GYFi41DU?t=54

Wow that's great! I've never seen footage.

I wonder what the approaches from the airplanes looked like... I imagine they seriously flew in over the lake-area. Heck, landings on runway 17 would have had to go over Capital Plaza if those ever happened, no? Or maybe commercial landings didn't happen there.

Same discussion going on in a.net about HYI (briefly). There's just not enough density there to really build something valuable for Austin. If it was a DFW style airport, it would take away from AUS if service did choose to fly there instead.

HYI at the most would be more like a secondary commercial airport for convenience, much like there's Long Island airport in New York, and that's assuming there's enough density in the near long-term to warrant another commercial airport.

Something like a few daily runs to Dallas or Houston if you don't want to make the extra 20-30 minutes to get to ABIA (see and that's not really worth another airport) if coming from anywhere that's not North. Austin is just no San Francisco or New York to have multiple big airports yet. At best HYI could present itself as a "from the car to the gate in minutes" alternative to AUS. Basically avoiding the long lines (which are never too long anyways at AUS).

[KevinFromTexas]

We used to park in this parking lot, I believe it's a day labor agency. Anyway, we'd park in that back lot and watch the jets land. They were low enough that you could hear the vortices behind them as they passed by. On the nights when it was cloudy, you could see them as the jets flew through the clouds.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Austin...4bd469d57a!8m2!3d30.267153!4d-97.7430608

[Riverranchdrone]

I keep an ear to the Austin pilot community. And from what I have picked up it is not the lack of Airports that is the issue in the Austin area. Its the lack of Hanger and tie down space. ABIA is great and can continue to expand for commercial reasons but local pilots need to fight over the little storage space at all the small airports across the area.

[psychlotron]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

San Marcos' airport is far too close to ABIA and too far away from Austin's population center to even be considered a possibility for Austin's second commercial airport.

Also...for the love of the good Lord above...please stop "assuming." There is no "goal" of having a major/joint airport between Austin and SA. San Antonio is the only one who would benefit from said development between the two cities. Austin doesn't need it (ABIA has the ability to grow to almost the size of ATL) and they have said as much.

San Antonio lost out on that plan in the mid-1990's (and maybe even further back). In the mid-1990's (when they were thinking of leaving Mueller), Austin approached SA with that idea of a joint airport between the two cities. San Antonio basically responded with sarcastic laughter.

It's never going to happen.

Sorry if I was not clear in my previous post. I was responding to Novacek's speculative statement: "
If and when there's any push for a second airport for Austin, I'd expect a resurrection of the Austin/San Antonio regional airport in the middle concept. But again, I sort of doubt it happens." Therefore my response was also speculative. I don't see any harm in a little speculation. Otherwise I would not have responded to Nova's post.

I never said anything about a "major" airport and neither did anyone else. Nova said "regional airport in the middle" and nothing more. I would fully expect any such airport (again, just speculating) to be secondary to San Antonio as well as to Austin. "Secondary to San Antonio" is nowhere close to "major."

And finally, I will mention that Skyscraper Page is in fact where I first became interested in the tremendous growth of the IH35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio. There have been many, many posts over the years (some were speculative!) suggesting that San Marcos and New Braunfels will become much more than they are today. I have no trouble imagining a future where that area could want its own regional airport.

[Tyrone Shoes]

Southwest to add Austin non-stops to Miami and Destin/Ft.Walton Beach.

https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/southwest-battles-american-in-austin/

[llintner]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Shoes

Southwest to add Austin non-stops to Miami and Destin/Ft.Walton Beach.

https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/southwest-battles-american-in-austin/

There were actually six new non-stops from AUS.

MORE NONSTOP LUV IN THE HEART OF TEXAS FOR AS LOW AS $99 ONE-WAY
This summer, Southwest will offer its Austin Customers nonstop service to a record 37 cities including Sacramento (beginning May 9), and Burbank, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orange County, and Salt Lake City (beginning June 6), with one-way fares as low as $99 (purchase by March 26, 2021, 11:59 p.m. Central Daylight Time, see detailed fare rules for dates of travel below).

"During the last decade, Southwest has served the most nonstop destinations from Austin each year based on DOT published schedules. In March 2021, more than 70% of our Austin Customers got where they’re going with a nonstop journey on Southwest Airlines. With our new service scheduled to begin in June 2021, our number of destinations available nonstop from Austin is more than double the offering of any other carrier," Watterson added. "While other carriers have fallen in and out of love with Austin across the years, we're continuing to build on nearly 45 years of offering affordable and relevant air service for Central Texans and those who are headed there."

Southwest also will offer nonstop service on weekends between Austin and one of the carrier’s newest destinations, Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Fla., beginning June 6.

[freerover]

Originally Posted by llintner

There were actually six new non-stops from AUS.

MORE NONSTOP LUV IN THE HEART OF TEXAS FOR AS LOW AS $99 ONE-WAY
This summer, Southwest will offer its Austin Customers nonstop service to a record 37 cities including Sacramento (beginning May 9), and Burbank, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orange County, and Salt Lake City (beginning June 6), with one-way fares as low as $99 (purchase by March 26, 2021, 11:59 p.m. Central Daylight Time, see detailed fare rules for dates of travel below).

"During the last decade, Southwest has served the most nonstop destinations from Austin each year based on DOT published schedules. In March 2021, more than 70% of our Austin Customers got where they’re going with a nonstop journey on Southwest Airlines. With our new service scheduled to begin in June 2021, our number of destinations available nonstop from Austin is more than double the offering of any other carrier," Watterson added. "While other carriers have fallen in and out of love with Austin across the years, we're continuing to build on nearly 45 years of offering affordable and relevant air service for Central Texans and those who are headed there."

Southwest also will offer nonstop service on weekends between Austin and one of the carrier’s newest destinations, Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Fla., beginning June 6.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/...78c7V8qjJ1xfOaHz21IL5c_bEtuIUKK0aahtTWa0

[ATX2030]

Originally Posted by llintner

There were actually six new non-stops from AUS.

MORE NONSTOP LUV IN THE HEART OF TEXAS FOR AS LOW AS $99 ONE-WAY
This summer, Southwest will offer its Austin Customers nonstop service to a record 37 cities including Sacramento (beginning May 9), and Burbank, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orange County, and Salt Lake City (beginning June 6), with one-way fares as low as $99 (purchase by March 26, 2021, 11:59 p.m. Central Daylight Time, see detailed fare rules for dates of travel below).

"During the last decade, Southwest has served the most nonstop destinations from Austin each year based on DOT published schedules. In March 2021, more than 70% of our Austin Customers got where they’re going with a nonstop journey on Southwest Airlines. With our new service scheduled to begin in June 2021, our number of destinations available nonstop from Austin is more than double the offering of any other carrier," Watterson added. "While other carriers have fallen in and out of love with Austin across the years, we're continuing to build on nearly 45 years of offering affordable and relevant air service for Central Texans and those who are headed there."

Southwest also will offer nonstop service on weekends between Austin and one of the carrier’s newest destinations, Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Fla., beginning June 6.

Any rumblings about possible new DL destinations and are BA and LH making plans to resume service anytime soon?

[shoreditch]

Originally Posted by ATX2030

Any rumblings about possible new DL destinations and are BA and LH making plans to resume service anytime soon?

Just as a UK resident I know that intl. travel won't resume in full force until at least a few weeks after hospitality resumes (which is scheduled for May 17th). There's been recent political grumbling about the timeframe but I doubt BA will reintroduce anything like a normal flight schedule to the US before June at this point.

[GoldenBoot]

International travel will remain stagnant until Europe (and the rest of the world) finds a better strategy in disseminating COVID vaccines to its citizens.

The vaccine rollout has been deplorable (in Europe, specifically) - and the airline industry to/from Europe will continue to suffer because of it. It's all about consumer confidence. If consumers don't feel safe traveling to a certain country...they won't.

As of today, roughly 500 million vaccine shots have been given in 140 countries. Of that, 133 million doses have been administered in the U.S. alone. That's about 40% of our entire population given at least their first dose/~14% are fully vaccinated. In contrast, Canada is at ~10%/~2%; France is at ~10%/~4%; Germany is at ~9.5%/~4%; Italy is ~10%/~5%; and the UK is at ~43%/~4%.

Others to watch: Argentina is ~6%/~1.5%; Brazil is ~6%/~2%; India is ~3%/~1%; Israel is ~57%/~52%; Japan is ~0.5%/~0.02%; Netherlands is ~9%/~4%; Mexico is ~4%/~0.6%; Russia is ~4%/~3%; Argentina is ~6%/~1.5%; South Africa is ~0.4%/0.0%; and Spain is ~9%/~5%.

Though we cannot fully trust them, China "reports" roughly 85 million doses given (~0.06% of their population has been given at least one dose).

In short...until the planet gets closer to herd immunity, international travel will suffer (regardless of how "well" we're doing in the U.S.). Look for domestic travel to BOOM!

[psychlotron]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

International travel will remain stagnant until Europe (and the rest of the world) finds a better strategy in disseminating COVID vaccines to its citizens.

The vaccine rollout has been deplorable (in Europe, specifically) - and the airline industry to/from Europe will continue to suffer because of it. It's all about consumer confidence. If consumers don't feel safe traveling to a certain country...they won't.

As of today, roughly 500 million vaccine shots have been given in 140 countries. Of that, 133 million doses have been administered in the U.S. alone. That's about 40% of our entire population given at least their first dose/~14% are fully vaccinated. In contrast, Canada is at ~10%/~2%; France is at ~10%/~4%; Germany is at ~9.5%/~4%; Italy is ~10%/~5%; and the UK is at ~43%/~4%.

Others to watch: Argentina is ~6%/~1.5%; Brazil is ~6%/~2%; India is ~3%/~1%; Israel is ~57%/~52%; Japan is ~0.5%/~0.02%; Netherlands is ~9%/~4%; Mexico is ~4%/~0.6%; Russia is ~4%/~3%; Argentina is ~6%/~1.5%; South Africa is ~0.4%/0.0%; and Spain is ~9%/~5%.

Though we cannot fully trust them, China "reports" roughly 85 million doses given (~16% of their population has been given at least one dose).

In short...until the planet gets closer to herd immunity, international travel will suffer (regardless of how "well" we're doing in the U.S.). Look for domestic travel to BOOM!

AGREE completely, and unfortunately I'll probably have to postpone the family vacation to (Germany and Switzerland was the plan) again this year.

I also agree that we should be skeptical of statistics provided by the Chinese government. In any case, 85 million is not 16% of their gigantic 1.4 billion population. It's more like six percent. Was 16% something they actually reported? Or just a typo?

That aside, yes, domestic travel is looking like the way to go this year. Or Iceland!