Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, already bursting at the seams, will see its largest-ever expansion start to take final shape after a City Council vote. For travelers, the decision will lead to more gates, more terminal space and possibly higher ticket prices. Council’s action on Thursday gives airport staff the green light to finalize a long-term deal with […]
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
Run by the city, the Austin–Bergstrom International Airport is located on the old site of Bergstrom Air Force Base it opened to to the public on May 23, 1999.
Posted inTransportation
FAA denies request to increase safety restrictions in skies above Austin’s airport
The Federal Aviation Administration is rejecting a request to upgrade Austin’s airspace to the same level surrounding the nation’s busiest airports. Class B airspace — one notch above Austin’s Class C airspace — is highly regulated to reduce the risk of midair collisions. Pilots must follow stricter rules, and air traffic controllers have greater authority. A reclassification […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin’s ‘dire’ air traffic controller shortage raises risk of flight delays
A shortage of air traffic controllers at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) has increasingly forced federal officials to slow the pace of arriving flights, at times holding planes on the ground in other cities to avoid overwhelming the tower. The delays — known as “ground delay programs” — don’t happen every day. But they were triggered […]
Posted inPlanning
Panelists look at the airport’s future of ‘perpetual’ construction
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is expected to remain in a near-perpetual state of construction for the next several decades, as city officials and regional leaders prepare for sustained, long-term growth in air travel demand and economic activity across the Central Texas region. That projection, shared during a recent Urban Land Institute of Austin panel, helped the […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport announces new flight service while anticipating capacity cuts
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has announced new flights starting this month while anticipating capacity cuts with the softening economy’s effect on travel demand. Jason Alexander, Austin’s deputy chief of airport affairs, gave a briefing on air service updates to the Airport Advisory Commission at its regularly scheduled meeting on April 9. “We are anticipating quite a […]
Posted inCity Council
City pauses $10M in airport art over concerns local creatives were excluded
The city has paused three significant public art contracts intended for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport expansion, in a move that may signal a reconsideration of how prominently the city should promote local artists in major public spaces. Three contract approvals totaling more than $10 million have been pulled from next week’s City Council agenda, following […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin’s airport has a critical shortage of air traffic controllers approaching the holidays
Retired librarian Carolyn Foote was craving an easy, three-hour flight home to Austin on Sunday after a weekend library conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. Instead, she found herself stuck in a cramped terminal at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, surrounded by crowds of tired high school students fresh from college tours. Seating was scarce, lines for bathrooms […]
Posted inTransportation
Auditor identifies safety, contract management among areas of risk for airport
A special report from the Office of the City Auditor has identified three areas of risk at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport as the facility moved forward with a $4 billion expansion. The three risk areas – contract and vendor management, asset management and maintenance, and emergency management and safety – will be examined beginning in 2025 […]
Posted inTransportation
Report highlights need for future airport audits
The city’s Aviation Department faces a variety of risks, particularly related to insufficient staffing, according to a report from the Office of the City Auditor. Auditor-in-charge Kathie Harrison told the Council Audit & Finance Committee on Wednesday that the three top risk areas facing Aviation include contract and vendor management, asset management and maintenance and […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin’s airport set to move ahead with $865 million terminal expansion
A centerpiece of the largest-ever expansion of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is on a glide path to obtain final approval for design and construction. City Council will vote on the project this month as ABIA strains to handle far more passengers than it was designed to accommodate. If approved, the 370,500-square-foot extension of the Barbara Jordan […]
Posted inTransportation
Council to see start of contracts for nearly $2.5B to fund airport expansion
City Council will consider a handful of funding items today that collectively would approve almost a half-billion dollars in contracts for the expansion of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The five requests total $497.8 million and represent the next major decisions in a series of possible approvals that would total nearly $2.5 billion in the coming months. […]
Posted inTransportation
American Airlines cuts five Austin flights as options shrink at ABIA
Lee esta historia en español American Airlines plans to eliminate five nonstop flights from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport this fall. The Fort Worth-based company, which has the second-largest presence at ABIA after Southwest, had already slashed 21 routes from its Austin schedule in January. Starting in October, American will no longer fly to Reno, Nevada; Palm […]