Southwest Airlines has reached an out-of-court settlement with the City of San Antonio over access to the new and fanciest terminal at San Antonio International Airport, which is slated to open in 2028, following years of legal wrangling over the contentious issue.
The City of San Antonio commissioned the new Terminal C at a cost of
$1.4 billion to provide much-needed gate space at the airport. It will feature 17 gates across 850,000 square feet, which is 30% larger than Terminals A and B combined.
Southwest immediately requested access to 10 of Terminal C’s gates, but the Texas-based carrier was up against competition from American, Delta, and United Airlines, who together requested access to up to 17 gates.
Clearly, there wasn’t enough space for all of these airlines to get gates in Terminal C, so City officials had to run a competition of sorts to decide which of these four airlines would be allocated gates.
Southwest Airlines accused the City of San Antonio of ignoring the needs and wants of its residents, as well as the terminal’s own master architect, in prioritizing gate space to airlines that would open frequent flyer clubs in the new terminal.
Given that Southwest has never operated a frequent flyer club, the airline believes its fate had already been predetermined in the selection process.
To explain just how much city officials wanted frequent flyer clubs to be built as part of its selection process, Southwest claims that Delta nearly lost out on gaining access to gates in Terminal C when it initially claimed it might not be able to build a Delta SkyClub.
In the end, however, Delta found the money to build a SkyClub, and, along with American Airlines, it was awarded gate space in Terminal C.
Southwest, meanwhile, was to remain in its incumbent home in Terminal A, which is “in severe need of reconstruction.” Southwest argues that remaining in Terminal A is limiting its planned expansion out of San Antonio.
The dispute quickly turned into a lawsuit with Southwest suing the City of San Antonio in an attempt to gain access to Terminal C once it opens in less than two years time.
In the end, however, a judge dismissed Southwest’s lawsuit, finding that the City was well within its rights to allocate gate space to airlines that could build frequent flyer clubs, offer domestic First Class cabins, and would open a new route to Washington DC.
That might have been the end of the matter, but it has now emerged that Southwest has reached an out-of-court settlement with the City of Antonio.
Under the terms of the agreement, Southwest is now gaining three gates in Terminal C and three gates in Terminal B, which has been renovated and is in a better state than Terminal A.
Southwest had been planning further legal action in federal court if it had failed to secure an out-of-court settlement. That legal action is now being withdrawn.
