Legal bills are piling up in the city’s fight to oust the company running the South Terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. City Council voted Thursday to double ABIA’s legal services agreement with corporate law firm Winstead PC to more than $3 million. The move comes after the company with a 40-year lease to run the […]
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
City auditors find airport leases may not reflect fair market value
An analysis of the leasing activities and other operations at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has found the city is potentially undercharging for dozens of lease agreements that haven’t been evaluated in years to determine if they’re in line with fair market value. Those practices, if left unchanged, could negatively impact the airport’s ability to be self-sustaining […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin-Bergstrom airport faces power outage Wednesday morning, delaying flights
Lee esta historia en español. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport experienced a power outage Wednesday morning, delaying numerous flights throughout the rest of the day and prompting airport road closures. The power went out around 4:30 a.m., according to airport spokesperson Bailey Grimmett. Austin Energy was able to restore power shortly before 8 a.m. POWER UPDATE: @austinenergy […]
Posted inTransportation
Boost in funding from Biden’s infrastructure law propels AUS closer to its goals
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport received an additional $15 million in funds yesterday from President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law to go toward its ambitious airport expansion plan. The airport received $17.3 million from the same pool of funds last year. The funding comes amidst an incredibly busy summer for the airport, with officials recommending passengers arrive […]
Posted inTransportation
Council approves legal action to close South Terminal
City Council on Thursday authorized city’s legal staff to move forward with eminent domain proceedings against the owner of the South Terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. No Council member commented on the item, but the vote was unanimous. Before the vote, Jeff Pearse, CEO of LoneStar Airport Holdings, which operates the South Terminal, predicted that […]
Posted inTransportation
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 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 […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin’s airport now wants people to arrive three or more hours before departure
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is busier than ever. With more than 250 flights a day, the airport is drawing an unprecedented number of passengers. But airline counters, TSA screening lines and concession businesses don’t have enough employees. The result has been notoriously long lines. With a busy Memorial Day weekend around the corner, the people who run […]
Posted inTransportation
TSA lines are out the door again at Austin’s airport
The lines for security screenings spilled out of the Barbara Jordan Terminal and onto the sidewalk Saturday morning at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The wait was so long that some people who showed up well in advance missed their flights. “It was pretty crazy,” said Arjun Kannan, a New York City resident who was visiting Austin […]
Posted inTransportation
TSA wait times are improving at Austin’s airport, but it’s about to get a lot busier
The wait to get through TSA security at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has improved in recent weeks, airport officials say. Lines are no longer stretching through the terminal and out onto the sidewalk as they were in March, when AUS Executive Director Jacqueline Yaft pleaded with the TSA to send more officers. “Right now, the latest reports […]
Posted inAustin
Airport Hilton rebounds from pandemic losses
The Hilton hotel at Austin’s airport has made a significant recovery from the dark days of the pandemic, airport executives Tracy Thompson and Rajeev Thomas explained to the City Council Audit & Finance Committee Wednesday. During 2021, the Hilton’s occupancy rate was about 62 percent and the average daily room rate was slightly less than […]
Posted inCity Council
Airport plan for jet fuel tank farm can go ahead after narrow Council vote
Austin City Council narrowly blocked an effort to stop a massive new fuel storage facility from being built at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The facility will store up to 6 million gallons of jet fuel a few hundred feet from homes. “Our hearts are heavy, because this isn’t the outcome that we wanted,” said City Council Member Vanessa […]
Posted inAustin
Council facing challenge in solving jet fuel storage
While the number of passengers traveling through most of the nation’s airports is growing at roughly 4 percent a year, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport traffic is growing at 8 percent a year, AUS Director Jacqueline Yaft told City Council at Tuesday’s work session. Yaft urged Council to move ahead with the planned airport expansion, including the […]