ABIA Expansion Thread

[royiv 9245]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

What does this mean for Southwest?  They gonna step up and have a nonstop?

Nonstop would land you somewhere in the Pacific Ocean flying any plane Southwest has in their fleet.

[Pasken 1309]

15 minutes ago, royiv said:

Nonstop would land you somewhere in the Pacific Ocean flying any plane Southwest has in their fleet.

or at COTA if the southwest fleet is restored to its full roster.

Edited December 12, 2020 by Pasken

[Biff Tannen 45663]

10 hours ago, royiv said:

Nonstop would land you somewhere in the Pacific Ocean flying any plane Southwest has in their fleet.

So what you're saying is we're gonna need a bigger plane?

[Guest Lobo]

No, the Pacific OCEAN.  We're gonna need a bigger boat.  

Hawaiin airlines uses A330 for this kinda service, right?

I saw they are also adding Orlando which I think is a curious choice for myriad reasons.  That's gotta be 11+ hours going out right?  

[royiv 9245]

Yes, they're using the A330 for Austin and Orlando. 

[Pasken 1309]

On 12/12/2020 at 10:04 AM, royiv said:

Yes, they're using the A330 for Austin and Orlando. 

Still hate crossing any ocean with only 2 engines.

[royiv 9245]

17 minutes ago, Pasken said:

Still hate crossing any ocean with only 2 engines.

It's really tough to cross the ocean with more tha  two engines these days. BA just retired their last 747. Unless you can find one of the remaining operators flying a 747 or A380, it's ETOPS from here on out.

[Guest Lobo]

Etops Fable?  

 

[Ghost of LL 15531]

On 12/11/2020 at 10:08 PM, royiv said:

Nonstop would land you somewhere in the Pacific Ocean flying any plane Southwest has in their fleet.

The 737MAX-8 would make it with a little more than 250 miles to spare (assuming a direct routing).  But that's not leaving much cushion, and that flight would probably be routinely weight-restricted.

[royiv 9245]

AA announced a pretty big expansion at AUS this morning. Between AA, AS and BA, there’s going to be a pretty big OneWorld presence in AUS.

https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2021/Nonstop-Growth-in-Austin-Leads-to-More-Nonstops-to-Austin-NET-RTS-03/default.aspx

[ChickenSandwich 9824]

On 10/26/2020 at 1:08 PM, Pasken said:

New Renderings of the Blue Line at the airport if Prop A passes:

 

Great looking second train no one will ride. Always wanted the matching set. 
 

1st year stabbings over under set at 4

Edited March 17, 2021 by ChickenSandwich

[Guest Lobo]

I like the Austin hipster version of a public train mariachi band, a jazz-folk quartet complete with stand-up bass, hip shoes, and people whiter than Edgar Winter. 

A big selling point to this blue line, and it was something I strongly considered in my decision, was that workers downtown could bring their luggage to work with them and take the blue line to the airport for their weekday flights.  I'll leave aside that personally, most of the time I travel for business, I leave early in the day from my own home.  But say I'm in that massive office cluster in SW downtown and leave from Republic Square.  That's 10 stops between me and Bergstrom.  Even at one minute each on average (with the Republic Square, Downtown Station, and Riverside taking slightly longer due to transfer volume).  So that's gonna end up being about a 30-minute ride to the Terminals.  Maybe it'll leave every 30 minutes from the downtown stations, but it could be as little as only once an hour.  And the one-time costs will likely be about $5 one-way. 

So let's say I have to leave on the train about 30 minutes earlier for the airport than I'd like to because of the schedules.  I have a 12noon flight, I would normally leave downtown around 10:45a.  Now I've gotta leave on the 10:00a train, and be stuck at the airport for longer.  Or for just $7 more, take a $12 uber from downtown, and get there with 45 minutes to spare.  The tens of thousands of business travelers this is marketed towards in the downtown area don't get swayed to spend an extra hour to get to the airport in order to save $7, do the fucking math.  The Blue Line will serve some great purposes, but being this new panacea of efficiently and cheaply getting to your flight is an idiotic pipe dream.  

Edited March 17, 2021 by Lobo

[CooterBrown 18002]

It'll be useful for anyone living in a condo within 2 blocks of the station that are headed to the airport. So, probably 10 potential customers a day.  

  

 

 

[crash_davis 23096]

49 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

It'll be useful for anyone living in a condo within 2 blocks of the station that are headed to the airport. So, probably 10 potential customers a day.  

so 5 more than use the bike lanes we spent 10s of millions building all over town.

[troph 24781]

On 3/17/2021 at 2:43 PM, crash_davis said:

so 5 more than use the bike lanes we spent 10s of millions building all over town.

But they get achievement unlocked in sim city.

[ChickenSandwich 9824]

On 3/17/2021 at 12:52 PM, CooterBrown said:

It'll be useful for anyone living in a condo within 2 blocks of the station that are headed to the airport. So, probably 10 potential customers a day.  

  

 

 

I believe Cabo Steve made sure this runs to his Condo in the W. Will make trips to Cabo much easier. 

[Guest Lobo]

Thankfully, Adler will be long out of office by the time this grift-on-rails is ever close to completion.  With any luck, he'll also be dead and we can strap his criminally fraudulent corpse to the front of the fucking train on its 2028 maiden voyage to bankruptcy.  

Edited March 20, 2021 by Lobo

[CooterBrown 18002]

New Virgin Atlantic direct to London launches in May. 

 

Austin airport lands new nonstop flight to regal European destination

By John Egan

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has landed a second nonstop flight to London.

Virgin Atlantic announced January 10 that it will launch four-times-a-week service between Austin and London’s Heathrow Airport on May 25. Tickets for the new route go on sale January 12.

The Austin-to-London flight will leave at 6:05 pm and arrive at 9 am the following day. The London-to-Austin flight will stake off at 11:35 am and land at 4:05 pm. The flight will operate in both directions on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

 

“We are incredibly excited to launch this new service between Austin and London Heathrow. With an impressive food, arts, and music scene, we know it’s a destination our British customers will love to explore,” Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer at Virgin Atlantic, says in a news release.

Jacqueline Yaft, CEO of Austin-Bergstrom, says in the news release that the new flight “helps meet our goals of continued recovery from the impacts of the pandemic and furthers our commitment to being the Gateway of Central Texas for both leisure and business travelers alike.” 

The Virgin Atlantic route will compete with Austin-to-Heathrow service already operated by British Airways. And it will join two other nonstop European routes from Austin: KLM flights to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Lufthansa flights to Frankfurt, Germany.

 

In 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, British Airways served 187,953 passengers in Austin, up 9.6 percent from the previous year. Following a 17-month hiatus, British Airways resumed the route in October at a three-days-a-week frequency. The airline plans to eventually return to daily service.

Prior to the pandemic, low-cost carrier Norwegian Air offered service between Austin and London’s Gatwick Airport, and unveiled plans for flights between Austin and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The pandemic wiped out the Gatwick route, and the Paris route never took off. Norwegian wound up exiting the entire U.S. market after filing for bankruptcy.

In a sense, the new London route will pit Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, which owns 49 percent of Virgin Atlantic, against Fort Worth-based American Airlines, which has a partnership with British Airways. Also, Virgin Atlantic is part of a trans-Atlantic joint venture with Delta and Air France-KLM. Billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Group business conglomerate own a 51 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic.

 

Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research, tells The Points Guy travel blog that it’ll be tough for Virgin Atlantic and Delta to make the new route successful. Why? Because, he says, it’ll depend heavily on business travelers, who’ve dramatically curtailed trips amid the pandemic.

“It certainly makes sense for Delta and Virgin to offer this route in theory, since Austin is a focus city for Delta, and adding the Austin-London flight will help Delta be a stronger competitor to American, which also has a focus city in Austin,” Harteveldt says.

[Post Oak 20205]

34 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

New Virgin Atlantic direct to London launches in May. 

 

Austin airport lands new nonstop flight to regal European destination

By John Egan

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has landed a second nonstop flight to London.

Virgin Atlantic announced January 10 that it will launch four-times-a-week service between Austin and London’s Heathrow Airport on May 25. Tickets for the new route go on sale January 12.

The Austin-to-London flight will leave at 6:05 pm and arrive at 9 am the following day. The London-to-Austin flight will stake off at 11:35 am and land at 4:05 pm. The flight will operate in both directions on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

 

“We are incredibly excited to launch this new service between Austin and London Heathrow. With an impressive food, arts, and music scene, we know it’s a destination our British customers will love to explore,” Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer at Virgin Atlantic, says in a news release.

Jacqueline Yaft, CEO of Austin-Bergstrom, says in the news release that the new flight “helps meet our goals of continued recovery from the impacts of the pandemic and furthers our commitment to being the Gateway of Central Texas for both leisure and business travelers alike.” 

The Virgin Atlantic route will compete with Austin-to-Heathrow service already operated by British Airways. And it will join two other nonstop European routes from Austin: KLM flights to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Lufthansa flights to Frankfurt, Germany.

 

In 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, British Airways served 187,953 passengers in Austin, up 9.6 percent from the previous year. Following a 17-month hiatus, British Airways resumed the route in October at a three-days-a-week frequency. The airline plans to eventually return to daily service.

Prior to the pandemic, low-cost carrier Norwegian Air offered service between Austin and London’s Gatwick Airport, and unveiled plans for flights between Austin and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The pandemic wiped out the Gatwick route, and the Paris route never took off. Norwegian wound up exiting the entire U.S. market after filing for bankruptcy.

In a sense, the new London route will pit Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, which owns 49 percent of Virgin Atlantic, against Fort Worth-based American Airlines, which has a partnership with British Airways. Also, Virgin Atlantic is part of a trans-Atlantic joint venture with Delta and Air France-KLM. Billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Group business conglomerate own a 51 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic.

 

Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research, tells The Points Guy travel blog that it’ll be tough for Virgin Atlantic and Delta to make the new route successful. Why? Because, he says, it’ll depend heavily on business travelers, who’ve dramatically curtailed trips amid the pandemic.

“It certainly makes sense for Delta and Virgin to offer this route in theory, since Austin is a focus city for Delta, and adding the Austin-London flight will help Delta be a stronger competitor to American, which also has a focus city in Austin,” Harteveldt says.

That's awesome.  Thanks for posting

[CooterBrown 18002]

Austin gets a direct to Vancouver on Air Canada.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/air-canada-new-routes-summer-2022/

 

[Mittens 8255]

 

 

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Mittens

[Pasken 1309]

Not a great time for Council Member Fuentes to be calling for a likely 2+ year delay on the new fuel storage project near 183.

[Guest Lobo]

Threatening to withhold jet fuel from passenger jets?  I've seen this Bruce Willis movie before.  

[DalTxHornFan 3097]

7 minutes ago, Pasken said:

Not a great time for Council Member Fuentes to be calling for a likely 2+ year delay on the new fuel storage project near 183.

So dumb.  The folks caterwauling about this either bought their homes next to an active Air Force Base or an International Airport.  Who could have possibly anticipated that jet fuel would be stored there? The poor dears!

Edited March 28, 2022 by DalTxHornFan

[torre 1285]

 

AAS story. (excerpt)

 

Abandoned rental cars snaked down the road outside Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Monday morning and passengers waited in a security line that reached outside the terminal and onto the sidewalk. 

Some travelers waited in security lines for hours, missed flights or even had to make alternate travel arrangements over the weekend as the airport was unable to handle unusually high passenger traffic generated in part by several high-profile sporting events. 

Airport officials on Monday even took the step of issuing a fuel shortage alert due to a lack of available fuel supply — a measure an airport spokesperson said is becoming more common as the airport becomes busier with more flights scheduled. A fuel shortage alert calls for flights to arrive with more fuel than normal in case there is no fuel available for them at ABIA.

“These volumes reflect thousands of Austin visitors traveling home after attending events", includeing the Texas Relays, Dell Technologies Match Play Championships and a NASCAR race at the Circuit of the Americas, the statement read

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/03/28/austin-airports-weekend-woes-long-lines-missed-flights/7194370001/

[Mittens 8255]

https://www.kut.org/transportation/2022-03-28/abandoned-rental-cars-and-tsa-lines-out-the-door-whats-going-on-at-austins-airport

Spoiler

When Carmen Ortiz arrived at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) this morning two hours before departure as recommended, the line to get through security stretched down the Barbara Jordan terminal, outside the building and back down the entire length of the terminal.

"I've never had to wait in a security line outside the airport," Ortiz said. "Everyone was showing up at the airport shocked."

Before the sun had even risen, the wait for TSA screening had stretched to more than 90 minutes, over three times what the Transportation Security Administration considers "normal."

Even though the TSA says all its screening lanes were open, including three new lanes added late last year, screeners got slammed with more than 8,252 passengers before 8 a.m., about 1,600 more than normal.

The TSA says it recently brought in extra staff from other airports to help at ABIA, but the agency is still struggling to hire enough employees in Austin, even with hiring bonuses of up to $2,000.

Monday morning — already one of the busiest times at the airport — was made even more hectic today by a rush of people traveling home from three major sporting events over the weekend: the Texas Relays track and field competition at UT Austin, the NASCAR race at Circuit of the Americas and the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club.

The line was so long that Southwest Airlines had already begun rebooking flights for some passengers who still had an hour before their flights boarded. Ortiz changed her departure to later in the morning.

"A lot of people from out of town were asking, 'Is this normal? Is this what the airport is like every time?'" she said on the phone while waiting for her rebooked flight.

It's not normal, but these types of early-morning jumbles are becoming increasingly common at ABIA. Airlines are adding flights to and from Austin faster than any other midsized airport in the United States, officials have said. That includes this afternoon's inaugural flight by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines from Austin to Amsterdam.

A $4 billion airport expansion launched last year to respond to the breakneck growth will take years to roll out.

The clearest indication that these types of bottlenecks will continue comes from airport officials themselves. They expect a record-breaking 20 million passengers this year in a facility built for 15 million.

Those unprecedented crowds are already stress-testing the airport's existing infrastructure in new ways. People trying to drop off their rental cars this morning arrived to a distressing surprise: Lanes leading to the airport's car rental facility were blocked by lines of abandoned rental vehicles.

"It was like an apocalypse," said Jeff Gluck, a sports reporter visiting from Denver for the NASCAR race. "All the cars were on the road sitting empty."

As Gluck lingered with his rental car wondering what to do, more people trying to return their vehicles arrived, boxing him in.

According to airport staff, it all started when one rental car stalled on the drop-off curb, stopping the return of vehicles. Staff told customers they could go catch their flights if they just left the keys in the car. That caused a chain reaction as more people facing the possibility of a missed flight saw others leaving their rental vehicles.

"People were honking their horns," Gluck said. "Nobody could move their cars, so I just left my car with everybody else and was just like, 'I just hope they check it in eventually.'"

Gluck said he barely made his flight back home to Denver. When he touched down, he got an email saying his vehicle had been returned.

Passengers aren't the only ones feeling squeezed. Sometimes, airlines are forced to cope with the undersized airport infrastructure.

With 282 flights scheduled today, ABIA is warning airlines about a possible fuel shortage at the airport. So planes are being advised to "tanker in" jet fuel, meaning they should fly with more fuel loaded than they typically would.

The airport can store between 1-3 days of fuel, depending on how busy it gets. Officials have said an airport of a similar size would have a 5-7 day supply of fuel.

Part of the airport's planned multibillion-dollar expansion includes building a new storage facility that could hold up to 6 million gallons of jet fuel. But the plan has faced opposition from nearby residents worried about sleeping fewer than 500 feet from the tank farm.

Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, whose district includes the airport, is asking her fellow council members to force airport staff to choose a new location for the tank farm. Airport officials have said the site near McCall Lane is the only one that fits with their longterm expansion plans.

With the airport increasingly strained under the weight of Austin's rapid economic growth, some travelers are still finding ways to navigate the crowds.

Kelly Nagel, a PhD student at Penn State University who's originally from Waco, was among those left with little choice but to abandon their rental cars this morning.

But Nagel says she was able to skip past the "shocking" security line out the door by using TSA PreCheck, which offers a separate security line for passengers who undergo fingerprinting and a background check. TSA PreCheck usually costs $85 for five years. She got through in five minutes.

"We walked through and were like, 'That's the best $85 we've ever spent,'" Nagel said. "We ended up getting really fortunate, but it was still bewildering."

 

[royiv 9245]

As usual, AUS is years behind where it should be on expansion. The plans as they stand now don’t even begin to address one of the airport’s major deficiencies which is the lack of curb space, particularly on the arrivals level. Once again, the airport will open an expansion that the city has already outgrown. 

[TKthunder2 4985]

I went through ABIA today at 11, seemed pretty normal to me.

[Guest Lobo]

1 hour ago, royiv said:

As usual, AUS is years behind where it should be on expansion. The plans as they stand now don’t even begin to address one of the airport’s major deficiencies which is the lack of curb space, particularly on the arrivals level. Once again, the airport will open an expansion that the city has already outgrown. 

Yep, record number of people taking rideshares to/from the airport.  Our solution?  More curbspace?  Nope, parking garages and bike lanes.

Record high number of flights departing ABIA, with farther and farther destinations?  Our solution?  More jet fuel infrastructure?  Nah, more public art spaces.  

[Gardner Barnes 1562]

Ya. But those tickets to imaginary locations are sooooo neat.

[Shaggy3.0 1695]

Hmmm.  Elon is right down the street from ABIA.  Elon manufactures batteries.  We need battery-powered planes.  Problem solved.  You're welcome.  Thank me later.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Shaggy3.0

[Guest Lobo]

^

You laugh but at a UT Energy conference the other day, there was a panel on how to minimize the carbon footprint of aviation.  I didn't attend it but I'm pretty sure it was a bone thrown to some students for appeasement.  Most of the stuff that day was serious and forward-thinking, and realistic.  I mean, of course jet engines could always get more fuel efficient, but based on the description of the panel, they were literally talking about batteries in planes.  'Cause you know, the weight won't be a factor.  Batteries for trucks has come a long way in the last few years.  There are already working prototypes that can pull a full loaded kingpin trailer.  Problem is now the truck weighs over 100,000 pounds.  Which no road in the United States is built for.  So what do we do?  You guessed it!  INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK! 

Anyway, good news-Watson is making the airport a huge plank of his campaign.  Bad news---we still have a city council and the desire to do everything 10 years after

[Telegraph_it 3357]

What about the airport’s water supply? 

[Guest Lobo]

So we can have showers for the cyclists who bike to their flight?  (I still can't believe that was a thing for a minute)

[Pasken 1309]

12 hours ago, Lobo said:

Yep, record number of people taking rideshares to/from the airport.  Our solution?  More curbspace?  Nope, parking garages and bike lanes.

Record high number of flights departing ABIA, with farther and farther destinations?  Our solution?  More jet fuel infrastructure?  Nah, more public art spaces.  

If not for covid the shot term garage would already be a giant hole in the ground as the airport built a new processing building connected to BJ with new, longer and more efficient ramps. Covid came and fucked up the financing of that due to its disruption of the aviation industry. The new infrastructure bill opens up more funding avenues but there are still practical limitations on the bonds the airport can put out. I think we all agree that none of us want to pay more in property taxes to finance an expansion, right? So when you are left with traditional aviation bonds and federal grants the options become a bit more limited.

 

The last Airport head was solid. Jury is still out on the new one but this is a part of the city government that traditionally functions well. Yes, it seems like they aren't super aggressive with expansions however federal grant requirements cap what your projected growth is in order to discourage over-aggressive expansion. So like a lot of things in government, there are legitimate reasons for them being how they are. 

[Guest Lobo]

^
Good point.  Although a "city of Austin" enterprise, the airport has a lot more federal moving parts to it.  But make no mistake, as much I deplore the federal government---City of Austin deserves most of the blame for the current state of the airport.  

On that note, check out a linkedin/blog feed called "String Theory" by Ray Brimble.  Guy has forgotten more about aviation design/logistics (in terms of airports) than we'll ever know.  He was deeply involved with the South Terminal and the first designs of Jordan Terminal expansion of building and apron.  Helluva nice guy and really funny.  Of course because he knew what he was doing, the City shoved him outta the way a few years ago.  

[Pasken 1309]

1 minute ago, Lobo said:

^
Good point.  Although a "city of Austin" enterprise, the airport has a lot more federal moving parts to it.  But make no mistake, as much I deplore the federal government---City of Austin deserves most of the blame for the current state of the airport.  

On that note, check out a linkedin/blog feed called "String Theory" by Ray Brimble.  Guy has forgotten more about aviation design/logistics (in terms of airports) than we'll ever know.  He was deeply involved with the South Terminal and the first designs of Jordan Terminal expansion of building and apron.  Helluva nice guy and really funny.  Of course because he knew what he was doing, the City shoved him outta the way a few years ago.  

I love to hear port guys talk shop. It's so interesting. 

[Texas Jeff 1944]

What about the airport’s water supply? 

It’s been drinkable for weeks now….

[Chet Steadman 940]

The airport used to have a website which had a direct link to the real-time TSA wait times inside ABIA but I haven’t seen it live now in several weeks.  It was great for judging how busy the airport may be and how much time you needed to give yourself.

There are several websites which provide “estimates” based on historical peak which are pretty much worthless, but none with the real-time feed anymore.  

Any of y’all seen it recently?

[Native Horn 3498]

I saw an article (maybe KXAN?) a couple of days ago that said that website is not accurate anymore due to technology lapses or some bullshit.  

[royiv 9245]

And the airport is now recommending arriving at the airport 2.5 hours prior to boarding. Crazy.

https://www.kut.org/transportation/2022-05-18/austins-airport-now-wants-people-to-arrive-three-or-more-hours-before-departure

[Mittens 8255]

Yup. Super excited to leave home at 530am next week so I can *hopefully* make my 830am departure.

[4th&Five 41506]

woke up at 3:45 last friday for a flight and when i got there 3 people were in line.

[Loop 1604 227]

Austin and San Antonio should build a huge ass airport on the Comal/Hays line out on 130 somewhere and turn ABIA and SAT into Hobby/Love Fields.

Will never happen.

[CooterBrown 18002]

Austin and San Antonio should build a huge ass airport on the Comal/Hays line out on 130 somewhere and turn ABIA and SAT into Hobby/Love Fields.
Will never happen.

Why should Austin give a shit about San Antonio?

I guess it could go right next to the Austin-San Antonio NFL franchise located on the Comal/Hays county line.

[dieucla98 2942]

A mega airport 45 minutes from any big city isn't going to work unless you're Heathrow or Narita. And neither AA nor SW would be interested if you still keep AUS and SAT open. 

Will never happen, and for good reason.

[DanRydell 799]

On 5/20/2022 at 4:21 PM, Loop 1604 said:

Austin and San Antonio should build a huge ass airport on the Comal/Hays line out on 130 somewhere and turn ABIA and SAT into Hobby/Love Fields.

Will never happen.

I sure as shit hope this extremely bad idea would never happen. 

[Mittens 8255]

ABIA attempts 'unusual' use of eminent domain to force out South Terminal operator

Ask anyone stuck on an airplane waiting for a gate at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) if the Barbara Jordan Terminal is big enough, and you'll hear something like this:

"It's mind-boggling to me that Bergstrom has not grown as it's needed to. It's embarrassing," said Jon Lamb, a Florida resident who last month was stuck on an American Airlines plane after landing because no gates were available. "I was angry that now I'm going to miss an important customer call."

Officials who run the city-owned airport want to fix this problem by building more gates. A big plan in the works would add a new concourse by 2028 with at least 10 gates and the ability to expand to 40. The concourse would be connected to the Barbara Jordan Terminal by an underground pedestrian tunnel.

But there's one big obstacle: The South Terminal where ultra-low-cost airlines Allegiant and Frontier operate would have to be demolished.

The South Terminal is run by a private company, Lonestar Airport Holdings. In 2015, the Austin City Council approved a 30-year lease with Lonestar's parent company plus two optional five-year extensions.

Lonestar says it has invested close to $20 million in the South Terminal, including about $1 million to accommodate a $75 million Allegiant base of operations that opened in November.

So now the City of Austin is attempting a novel use of the state's eminent domain law to terminate Lonestar's lease. ABIA wants the company gone by July 2023.

As part of the condemnation process — legal steps under eminent domain law to seize a property — the city sent an initial offer in late March to buy out Lonestar's lease for nearly $2 million.

Spoiler

Lonestar rejected the offer as "objectively offensive." In a blistering response, the company's lawyers accused the city of trying to "wrongfully condemn its way out of binding contractual obligations." They said the city's attempts to force out Lonestar would fail in court.

Jacqueline Yaft, the airport's executive director, signaled confidence that the eminent domain process would proceed as planned.

"The city's next steps will be to send a final offer letter to the tenant as required by the Texas eminent domain statute," she told commissioners overseeing the airport.

If that offer is rejected, the city would then file a condemnation lawsuit to force out Lonestar.

Attorneys who work in eminent domain law said this is far from an open-and-shut case.

"I think this is kind of an unusual one," David Todd, an eminent domain attorney based in Austin, said. "We may even develop some new case law based on the result of what the result is here."

"There is some precedent to say [the government] can't use eminent domain simply to take over a business that it had already contracted to allow someone else to do," Todd said.

Usually, eminent domain is used to seize property for a public use. In this case, the city is trying to terminate a lease on its own property.

"That's a very atypical scenario," said Luke Ellis, an eminent domain attorney who teaches at UT Austin. "Usually the condemning entity is not the owner."

Ellis says even if the city can use eminent domain to force out the South Terminal operator, it may have unintended consequences.

"If the city could simply condemn its way out of any contract that they no longer believe is suitable or advantageous to the city, the net effect of that is private enterprise is going to have zero interest in doing any business with the city," he said.

Airport officials have been reluctant to comment publicly on a case that could wind up in court. ABIA issued a statement that reads in part: "The Department of Aviation will continue to work with all business stakeholders and tenants throughout the duration of this program and looks forward to delivering an improved passenger experience to all AUS customers."

 

[CooterBrown 18002]

Just offer them a couple of free 10 year gate leases and be done with it.

Also, do not build 10 out of 40 planned gates now.  BUILD FORTY FUCKING GATES NOW.  Those 10 will be backed up in 6 months and then the entire construction process has to happen all over again. 

 

[DanRydell 799]

Or compensate Allegiant for building their own little airport at the Austin Executive Airport or something like they've done semi-recently in St. Louis, Columbus, and Phoenix.