SAN ANTONIO – Just before sunrise Monday morning, hundreds of passengers lined up at the San Antonio International Airport to be the first to board a brand-new, daily, nonstop trip to Washington, D.C.
The move has been decades in the making, according to federal and local leaders.
“If you look at our community, the DoD folks, the people that support the Defense Department, there have been lots of agencies and different things here. The ability to expand is important to them, and connecting flights make it a little difficult for the business community,” said Jeff Webster, CEO of the San Antonio Greater Chamber.
Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn were joined by several local elected officials, including Representative Henry Cuellar, who joined the flight to discuss its benefits for San Antonio.
“I think this is going to do nothing but encourage more companies to come here and create more jobs and opportunities because the airline connections are so much better,” Cornyn said.
“You know, when you got over 70,000 military, active members, over 150 veterans in this area, when you have a cybersecurity center that has been growing, they have to go and fulfill their mission at the Pentagon to have meetings up there,” Cuellar said.
Reflecting on the airport’s nonstop flights, Nirenberg praised the newest flight to Washington, D.C.
“We have 46 nonstop sites now. That continues to grow. Air connectivity is a function of the market demand, and we have clearly generated demand here with 11 million travelers last year,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “We’re setting new records for passengers every single month that that is going to continue.“
Most passengers on the flight aren’t headed to D.C. for sightseeing but as part of the yearly delegation called SA to D.C., a collective effort of elected officials, military officials, businesses and nonprofits who meet with federal groups to advocate for San Antonio.
“It started with just military issues only, and it’s morphed over the years. We’ll have health care, nonprofit, energy, water, transportation, infrastructure, higher education, and military conversations,” Webster said. “The airport, their expansion last year was part of our advocacy to get money for the expansion here at the airport and to support our military families here.“
The new American Airlines flight will fly out of the San Antonio International Airport 7 days per week. You can find more information on the airport’s website.
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