San Antonio City Council B Session: Airport Briefings and New Flights (January 28, 2026)
San Antonio City Council B Session: Airport Briefings and New Flights (January 28, 2026)
The City of San Antonio Council B session convened on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at 2:08 PM. The meeting focused on three major airport solicitations: airfield design services, architectural design for Terminal A and B renovations, and a pre-solicitation for a Centralized Receiving and Distribution Center (CRDC). Airport Director Jesus Sciences also announced three new nonstop flights via Breeze Airways: to Raleigh-Durham, Memphis, and Pensacola. Council members expressed strong support for the airport's growth and the presented recommendations.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were explicitly discussed.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were heard during the B session, though the meeting adjourned with a note that a 5:00 PM public comment session with several speakers would follow.
Discussion Items
- New Nonstop Flight Announcements: Jesus Sciences, Director of Airports, announced three new nonstop flights through Breeze Airways: Raleigh-Durham ($79 one-way), Memphis ($49 one-way), and Pensacola ($49 one-way, with a connecting flight to Tampa). Sciences noted that Raleigh-Durham is a top-three targeted market, with approximately 100 daily travelers between the cities. The airport now serves 50 destinations, up from 33 post-COVID.
- Post-Solicitation: Airfield Design Services (ASIP): The recommended contract ($40 million, funded by FAA grants and aviation capital funds) was awarded to Kimley Horn after an evaluation that included interviews. The project involves preliminary design for two parallel runways (13R and 13L) to increase capacity, decommissioning Runway 422 into a taxiway, and reducing conflicts with Randolph Air Force Base. Councilmember Spears emphasized this as a federal priority.
- Post-Solicitation: Architectural Design Services for Terminal A & B Renovations: The $35 million contract (funded by aviation capital funds) was awarded to HOK (Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum). HOK's team includes local firms West East Design Group and CNG Engineering. The goal is to align Terminals A and B with the new design standards of Terminal C, modernizing security checkpoints, ticketing, concessions, and gate hold rooms (expanding from ~1,900 sq ft to 3,000 sq ft at each gate). Eric, a staff member, noted a pre-approved budget of $200 million for A and $100 million for B from carriers.
- Pre-Solicitation Briefing: Centralized Receiving and Distribution Center (CRDC): An RFP for an off-site facility for sterilized, secure receiving of food, beverages, and other goods. Estimated contract value is $11.25 million over 10 years with a 5-year renewal option, funded from O&M funds. The evaluation committee includes Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle, Assistant Director of Aviation Michael Garnier, and TSA Deputy Assistant Federal Security Director Ernesto Ortiz. Scoring includes 30 points each for experience/qualifications and project understanding, 20 points for pricing, 10 points for local preference, 5 points for veteran-owned small business, and 5 points for small business prime.
- Council Inquiries on Scoring: Councilmembers asked about scoring changes between initial and final evaluations (e.g., PGA moving from first to last on the TABRR evaluation). Jesus Sciences explained that interviews allow the committee to ask hard questions about commitment to San Antonio, team presence, and project approach. Councilmember Via Gran requested details on who served on the scoring team and the reasons for point shifts. Staff agreed to provide follow-up information.
- Future B Session Briefings (April): Jesus Sciences outlined upcoming presentations: construction manager at risk for Terminal A/B renovations, maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) post-solicitation, Terminal C concessions pre-solicitation (41,000 sq ft of concession space, opening in ~28 months), and the TDP Airport Access Roadways program to reduce congestion.
Key Outcomes
- Council Support: Council members (Spears, White, Alderete Gavito, Coors, Mesa Gonzalez, Via Gran) expressed unanimous support for moving forward with the three solicitations.
- Next Steps: The contracts for airfield design and Terminal A/B architectural design will proceed to an A session for final council approval. The CRDC solicitation will be released. Staff will provide a Gantt chart of project milestones, as requested by Councilmember Alderete Gavito.
- No Votes Taken: The B session was a briefing; no formal votes were recorded. The meeting adjourned at 2:49 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. The time is now 2.08 p.m. on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026 in the City of San Antonio B session is called to order. Madam Clerk, can you please read the roll? Councilmember Corps. Councilmember Via Gran. Here. Councilmember Mungia. President. Councilmember Castillo. Councilmember Galvan. Here. Councilmember Alderete Gavito. Here. Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez. Councilmember Spears. Councilmember White. Mayor Jones. Mayor Pro Tim Mickey Rodriguez. Present. Mayor Pro Tim, we have quorum. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This meeting will hear a briefing on some solicitations for the San Antonio International Airport Airport. Eric, do you want to get a start as a question? Yes, sir. Thank you. Good afternoon, uh, Mayor and Council. So today's B session focuses on three high profile solicitations. Uh recommended design contracts for improvements to the airfield and terminal A and B, as well as a pre-solicitation on a centralized receiving and distribution center. So it's just gonna walk through all three. Um this is in keeping with our uh lumping all airport issues in together. And um I'll turn it over to Jesus. Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem Council. Hesu Science, Director of Airports for the City of San Antonio. Um I'd be remiss if I didn't bring this up. Um so we are announcing three new nonstops, one of which is incredibly attractive to us, which is Raleigh Durham. Um it's one of our top three targeted markets. We probably have close to a hundred people that travel in and out of uh San Antonio every day to go to Raleigh Durham. And uh Memphis, Tennessee is a great addition as well, and Pensacola as we look at uh what Breeze does, over 170 routes across the entire country, and they are starting to move international as well. I know they were here in 2021, but excited to launch this. We encourage everyone, not only is it uh really good for San Antonio, but the prices are incredibly uh low when you look at being able to connect into Pensacola and Memphis at 49 dollars one way or getting to Raleigh Durham for 79 dollars one way. Uh the flight from Pensacola uh will be two times weekly, and then there will be another flight that will go in and connect into Tampa. So you don't have to get off the plane and you can go into Pensacola and then get into Tampa. So that's a good opportunity for that one as well. So uh thank you guys for all your support as we look at our overall platform. We are now at 50 destinations. Um excited about the growth that we've had. I know we've shown you guys a number of times of where we were post-COVID. We had a total of about 33 destinations, and we are now at 50. So I give a lot of credit to Jacob Tyler, our Air Service Development Administrator.
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