In San Antonio International Airport’s normally sleepy B terminal, a party was underway before the sun had even risen Monday morning.
The city finally scored a nonstop flight to the Reagan National Airport (DCA) in the nation’s capital last year — after decades of fruitless lobbying.
To celebrate an achievement some never thought they’d see, the inaugural flight carried a cabin of roughly 200 city leaders, U.S. senators, past and present congressmen and business executives all headed to Washington for the annual SA to DC lobbying trip.
“Everybody’s here. It’s exhilarating, right?” said Airport Director Jesus Saenz, who woke up at 3:45 a.m. on Monday to oversee the celebration and prepare for a trip where much federal funding is on the line for the airport. “When you think about how long it’s taken us… Starting today, we get to say we did it.”
TV cameras lined the walkway as the terminal began to fill up around 5:15 a.m. A live band serenaded enthusiastic passengers as they snacked on custom printed donuts and breakfast tacos.
While some were dressed to head straight to Capitol Hill, a beaming City Manager Erik Walsh was making the rounds before takeoff in Hoka tennis shoes and a quarter zip.
USAA President and CEO Wayne Peacock was one of the few passengers traveling separately from the SA to DC coalition, and said the nonstop flight will be a boon to San Antonio’s many military-adjacent businesses.
The new route is tailored specifically for that purpose, featuring flights leaving San Antonio at 6:35 a.m. and departing Washington, D.C. at 7:45 p.m. to allow for business trips that don’t even require a hotel stay.
“We have a lot of business up there,” said Peacock, who personally flies to Washington roughly once a month. “Getting into DCA versus into Dulles is just a huge convenience.”
Relationships built
Nonstop flight aside, this year’s SA to DC trip comes amid tremendous uncertainty about the city’s relationships in the nation’s capital.
City officials and local lobbyists milled about the gate on Monday discussing their rapidly changing schedules and objectives — the product of a new presidential administration that’s fired off countless policy changes before some cabinet officials have even been confirmed.
But passengers on Flight 1718 — named to commemorate the year San Antonio was founded — now have a bond they say is stronger than ever from the countless hours local and federal officials spent collaborating on the direct flight.
On the plane, Walsh chatted across the aisle with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), while mayoral hopeful Beto Altamirano sat next to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo). U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) and Mayor Ron Nirenberg were also on the flight.
The policymakers gained new respect for one another while fending off opposition from Virginia lawmakers, who have long opposed the addition of more routes in their airport, plus fierce lobbying from United Airlines, which had a monopoly on direct flights out of Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia.
Now those relationships may offer city leaders their best shot at navigating GOP-controlled Washington, where a long list of federally-funded projects, including money for a major airport redevelopment project, still hang in the balance.
“It was six years ago that a delegation from San Antonio came to meet with me in my office in D.C. to make the case that San Antonio deserved a direct flight to Reagan,” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in an interview before boarding the flight Monday morning.
Cruz has since risen to chair the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which has jurisdiction over aviation, and he’s vowed to keep helping San Antonio with its airport projects.
“When it comes to airport funding, I was the co-author of the FAA reauthorization bill… [which includes] millions of dollars of funding for Texas airports,” he said. “That’s going to remain a major priority.”
American Airlines on the rise
Another budding relationship is that of San Antonio International Airport and American Airlines.
The airline’s executives were in attendance Monday to celebrate the nonstop flight they helped score, as well as the bigger future for them at SAT that’s expected to come with it.
American Airlines went all in on helping San Antonio get the nonstop flight, while Southwest Airlines, which currently dominates the larger A terminal, scored a direct flight for Las Vegas.
When a new terminal is complete, taking the airport from 27 gates to 40, American will get top billing.
Among the reasons San Antonio gave for choosing American Airlines was the company’s focus on business travelers — such as those traveling on the direct flight to Washington. Those customers will benefit from new lounges that Southwest doesn’t offer, according to Southwest’s ongoing lawsuit over the issue.
