San Antonio International Airport is responding to criticism from officials by racking up record passenger loads this year, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The addition of some twenty new flights, including non stops to Toronto and Mexico City, pushed the total passenger load for October up to 803,000, that is up nearly nine percent from October of 2016.
So far this year, 7.4 million people have enplaned or deplaned at SAT, up 4.5% over 2016, and approaching a record.
"Since the spring of 2016, we have announced 20 new flights at SAT which in turn contributes to the growth in passengers at the airport, Aviation Director Lt. Gen. Russ Handy, USAF (Ret) said. "Additionally, we have an aggressive air service development team and a proactive strategic communications team that work together to heighten awareness of SAT, San Antonio, and the surrounding region, and it has not gone unnoticed by air carriers."
One thing SAT is working on is trying to slow the rush of San Antonio air passengers who skip out to Austin Bergstrom or even to Houston to catch flights.
A survey shows 92% of passengers departing from SAT rated their overll satisfaction as either Excellent or Good...the two highest ratings in a Global Resource Management survey.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and businessman Brad Parscale are among those who have criticized San Antonio International for its lack of flights, and inability to compete with Bergstrom and other airports in cities its size, pointing to, for example, the fact that SAT has fewer than half of the non stop destinations as Phoenix Sky Harbor, which is serving an area or roughly a similar population.
Parscale, who was Donald Trump's digital director during the 2016 campaign, recently announced the move of many of employees of his Giles-Parscale to Ft. Lauderdale, pointing out the difficulty of traveling anywhere in the USA from SAT, flights that frequently require long layovers in Houston or Dallas.