San Antonio is building a new Terminal C with 17 gates that’s planned to open in 2028. Southwest says it was promised gates in the new terminal, but when the city finalized its Airline Use & Lease Agreement they told the airline it would stay in terminal A. Southwest sued – and lost.
- Southwest refused to sign the new lease agreement.
- Airlines that aren’t signatories pay a higher rate for gate space, ticket counters, and everything else at the airport.
- But Southwest keeps sending checks at the old, lower rates.
The city didn’t cash the check. They say Southwest owes $20 million, and has sent just $12.6 million. They were afraid that if they cashed the checks, Southwest would argue the airport accepted the amounts as correct (sort of like the U.S. claiming Guantanamo Bay in Cuba based on early rent checks cashed in haste at the onset of the Cuban Revolution – and each month we’ve continued sending the checks, though Cuba stopped cashing them).
Meanwhile, the airport is converting Southwest’s proprietary counters and gates to Common Use. That means no more branding, kiosks, or even boarding group stanchions. They haven’t signed the lease, they don’t get dedicated branding reserved for airlines that do.
Southwest, though, has complained to the Department of Transportation saying the whole thing is illegal (even though a court disagreed). DOT was supposed to respond in early October, but gave themselves a two month extension. The government shutdown may delay this further.
Ironically, it seems one reason San Antonio didn’t want to move Southwest to the new gates because the terminal would offer lounge space and Southwest wasn’t going to want to rent that, but Southwest now wants lounges. Southwest, as the largest carrier at the airport, figures it’s paying for the new terminal and should get to use it.
Common use status will raise Southwest’s costs, and could make their more marginal routes less attractive. This seems like a risky hardball strategy for the airport, because it could cost them air service.
(HT: PaxEx.aero)
LOL at “even though a court disagreed.” Psh, Gary, which ‘court’? Keep appealing to the Supremes, pay your gratuities to the 6 corrupt ones, and say nice things about Dear Leader.
But maybe other airlines will come in a swoop the Southwest agreements and utilize the airport more of a small hub and use the lounge space.
@Wayne Zitter — Bah! Yeah, Delta would jump at the opportunity to swoop in. Quick, call Tim!
@1990 Biden’s DOJ went after all of his political enemies, real and imagined and you think the Supreme Court is corrupt? LOL.
Do businesses actual send checks today? Honest question. I just assumed electronic transfers.
Some still send checks to a few vendors. You’d be shocked that some large municipalities still require it because of either outdated financial systems or the controls they have in place for audit/accountability purposes. Most will take a wire transfer and are paid that way.
I know that Spirit in fact tries to pay as many vendors as possible by credit card, offering better payment terms like a net30 versus net60 in exchange. Then they use the cash back/points from the credit card as a rebate. Of course they then auto-pay the credit card one bill at a time as the charges post.
I fly out of SAT often…Terminal A needs a lot of renovations. I don’t blame Southwest for objecting to the plan for the new terminal/wanting at least some gates there. Not a great way to treat our hometown airline…and one that offers many nonstop options to non-hubs. Rather than city owned and operated, management of SAT should be transferred to an airport authority.
Also, does it really take 4 years for construction of a new terminal?
Someone forgot the Alamo.
I’ve always been a little surprised that SAT has not gotten more attention and traffic being as so close to the Hill Country and Austin
Another prospective is the city wants southwest out because they don’t agree on how the city wants to run. Just like chick fa lay because they closed on Sundays. And like they shut down the little leagues soccer. Just saying
Mheh, if WN draws down there will be other airlines to pick up the slack.
Southwest you just wire the money. Then they could say that the airport took the money problem solved
Thanks, NedsKid.
Uh, this is sadly on WN for not negotiating a secondary lease. If you fail to sign the new signatory agreement, your current contract typically doesn’t allow a snap-back clause and you ARE forced to pay non-signatory rates. I’m surprised that WN legal didn’t try to negotiate an interim or bridge agreement.
Now the whole common use thing is hilarious, and the airport has its legal rights to do this. But that’s also quite expensive on the airport’s behalf as well. I’m curious now to see the rates SAT charges for per-use, non-signatory agreements! (it is per flight). In Vegas, its about $1200.
@David P. Repeating a DJT falsehood won’t make it true. However, it is stunning how morally bankrupt and vindictive the current DOJ is from vapidly indicting Comey to giving Dirty Don a pass on the Epstein files.
Pretty poor way for SAT to treat an airline that has been their primary carrier for 50 years.
@The Perspective — Oh man, but you watch, they’ll try. Repeating falsehoods is all they got.
On Comey, it’s wild, because that guy single-handedly gave #45 the win in 2016; yet, like Christie, Pompeo, Bolton, Pence, Barr, Mattis, Esper, Milley, Tillerson, Haley, McMaster, Kelly, Mulvaney, Scaramucci, Grisham, Chao, Cohen, Cobb, Griffin, Hutchinson, and so many others who ‘back-in-the-day’ were his right-hand, most vocal supporters, are now each ‘persona non grata’ merely because they pushed back at some point, and are now deemed ‘traitors’ that must be forever-punished. Insane. This guy makes Nixon’s paranoia look ‘based.’
Southwest is being treated poorly by San Antonio government officials.. Back when I lived in San Antonio officials were buying stolen Southwest Airlines vouchers to fly themselves and their staff to Hollywood movie premiers. San Antonio officials should be showing gratitude to the airline they ripped off. The Democrat run city that historically ran on little white envelopes and cash hidden in empty paint cans needs to show some respect.
San Antonio is a lousy city. Besides from the River Walk it is dirty, crime ridden and basically a giant cesspool. Southwest needs to tell the citizens of S.A, they will no longer serve that market. Let San Antonions fly Spirit, Frontier and see how happy they are at election time.
What does any of this havevto do with federal courts or Trump? Nothing! You guys really have TDS.
Boohoo.
Why do people shill for corporations? They don’t care about you. They don’t even think about you. The lower-cost, better-value Southwest of the 90’s and early 2000’s only exists in people’s memories. They offer minuscule value over other major carriers and in some cases offer less. Don’t you love paying for unassigned seats at the front of the plane and then having to wait while 100 people board before you? To hell with SW Airlines.
1980s–1990s: Anti-competition posture
• 1983–1994 – Lobbying against Texas high-speed rail (Texas TGV).
Southwest spent heavily and mobilized political pressure to block a Dallas–Houston–San Antonio HSR network. Result: preservation of its short-haul monopoly within Texas. Consumers lost a low-cost, time-competitive ground alternative.
• 1997 – Wright Amendment preservation campaign.
Southwest supported limits on long-haul flights from Dallas Love Field until mid-2000s, constraining route competition that benefited its Dallas base.
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2000s: Revenue segmentation begins
• 2009 – EarlyBird Check-In introduced ($10 each way).
First major monetization of a previously timing-based benefit (boarding order).
→ Shift from egalitarian boarding to pay-for-priority.
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2010s: Loyalty and pricing convergence
• 2011 – Rapid Rewards 2.0.
Replaced fixed flight credits with revenue-based earning/redemption. Points became less predictable and generally worth less to lower-fare travelers.
• 2013 – “No-show” forfeiture policy.
Failure to cancel 10 min before departure voids ticket value. Parallels legacy nonrefundable rules.
• 2013–2015 – Points devaluations (60→70→72 points per $1).
Effective point value fell ~15%.
• 2018 – Dynamic EarlyBird pricing ($15–$25).
Ended flat fee. Introduced demand-based upsell pricing.
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2020s: End of “customer-friendly” era
• 2021 – Award chart removed.
Unpublished further devaluation; redemption rate ~83 points per $1 (≈ 1.2¢ value).
• 2023 – Wi-Fi charged per-flight, not per-day.
Travelers on connections pay multiple times; mirrors legacy practice.
• 2024 – EarlyBird and Upgraded Boarding price hikes (up to $99 / $149).
Ancillaries move to legacy-carrier ranges.
• 2025 – Basic fare class introduced.
Non-changeable, fewer credits—direct copy of basic-economy concept Southwest long mocked.
• 2025 – Rapid Rewards earning cut (Wanna Get Away 6× → 2×).
Sharply lowers reward accumulation for bargain travelers.
• 2025 – Flight-credit expiration reinstated (12 mo).
Removes pandemic-era flexibility and deviates from “no expiration” promise.
• May 28 2025 – Checked-bag fees added ($35/$45).
Ends “Bags Fly Free,” Southwest’s signature consumer differentiator.
• 2026 (announced) – Assigned seating with paid “Extra Legroom/Preferred.”
Ends open-seating egalitarianism, adds tiered cabin monetization.
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Structural non-service actions
• Ongoing (1990s–present) – Anti-infrastructure lobbying.
Continues to oppose publicly funded competing transport in core markets (HSR and expanded airport access in Texas/California). Maintains dependence on short-haul monopoly rather than intermodal competition.
Common use gates work very well and efficiently in many other countries. It’s time for the US to finally stop being so allergic to international best practices and learn about the grass being greener on the other side.
(The US’ distaste for international best practice goes well beyond airports: just look at the discussion regarding building codes.)
@Lorenzo Rivas, San Antonio is a lovely city. Starting at the San Antonio Missions (the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Texas), going north through the historic King William District, north of downtown to the Museum Reach and Pearl District (with the top-rated hotel in Texas), through the also-historic Monte Verde District and up through tony Olmos Park, over to its neighbor, chic and historic Alamo Heights, and north to Hill Country Village, Shavano Park, and Stone Oak – the city has an abundance of clean, beautiful neighborhoods with rolling hills and live oaks that are green year-round. Add to that the incredible history (older even than New England), warm people, and unique fusion of Texan and Mexican culture, and you get one of the nicest, most interesting, and most livable cities in the country. You should visit more!
We, the SAT passengers, will wind up paying higher costs because of this messy dispute. They need to negotiate quickly and resolve this in the interest of SWA, SAT and most importantly, those who fly to and from SAT. Come on guys!!! Meet somewhere in the middle and stop the costly, emotional backstabbing. NO ONE is winning the battle. SWA is a key partner in the success of San Antonio, by and we should treat them as such. Likewise, SWA needs to consider using a mediator with less emotion who can help find a mutually acceptable long term solution that keeps the passengers interests at the forefront.
@samus aran – the issue with common use in the US is that airlines have typically managed their gates and property (including jetbridges). I remember flying out of Little Rock Arkansas as a kid and the USAirways Jetway was super nice & new, the Southwest one was decked out with posters & whatnot, the TWA one looked like it was from the 50s (it didn’t move, just had a telescoping boarding “room” with a curved sliding partition that would cover the airplane door). Each airline’s logo was also on the outside of each jetway.
Airlines would also decorate the gate space as they please, mostly carpet, walls, lighting, etc. lately its with different types of gate podiums, tvs, etc. Southwest installed tables with power ports & chairs in a lot of their gate areas.
One of the arguments US carriers have against sharing gates deals with controlling use; most airlines pad their schedules and if a plane lands 20-30 minutes early, they can plan on having an open gate if they control it, but for common use, sometimes they’ll have to wait for their time to open or if another airline is using it, for them to push.
The European model is also transitioning, as they used to like keeping everyone in a centralized area until the gate was ready; one reason the hold rooms are so small.
I love this town.
They’ll give the Spurs a Billion dollars every few years for a new stadium or practice facility but won’t let the Main Air Carrier for our area have a gate at a facility they’ve paid for.
Dogs don’t bite the hand that feeds them but our city and county reps aren’t that smart. They are petty and self destructive.
Southwest is big here because we are a large poor town. If Southwest pulls out the Airport will be bankrupt overnight and every associated service company and all neighboring businesses that depend on them die and all those people are out of work.
Absolutely ridiculous and petty
If I ran southwest airlines,and the city treated me this way, I would definitely pull out of San Antonio, because of the city leaders behavior towards southwest airlines