Historic Stinson airport looking ahead
South Side airport taking off again
By Lynn Brezosky
As the Great Recession dragged on, aviation enthusiast Thomas Mathew and his plan to relaunch a network of full-service facilities for aircraft, passengers and pilots waited on the sidelines.
Mathew had owned and sold fixed-base operations - businesses that provide aeronautical services at airports - in Fort Worth, Austin, Tucson, Arizona; Casper, Wyoming; and Greely, Colorado. But the Great Recession hit, and hit the private aviation market hard. It didn't help that private jets became a symbol of corporate greed. Middle class America didn't take well to Detroit auto executives jet-setting to Washington for bailout money.
"With airplanes, when the economy turns, that's the first thing, whether it's corporations or individuals or people doing training ... that always goes," Mathew said. "And then when the economy turns back around the airplane is the last thing that comes back onto someone's luxury buying item (list)."
But on May 1, 2015, he was back in business, opening GateONE at San Antonio's Stinson Municipal Airport. His plan is to expand over the next 12 months to 10 fixed-base operations in small airports nationwide, and San Antonio's growth made it a clear place to start.
"We are looking at markets where the growth potential is there," he said. "If you look at the growth potential on the south side of San Antonio, this is where all the manufacturing's coming to. You've got Toyota here. You've got Brooks (City-Base) that's being developed in multiple ways from hotels, business office campuses and everything else. So we feel that the growth is happening on the South Side. And plus, we're the closest airport to downtown San Antonio."
GateONE is just one of several businesses opening shop as the airport celebrates its 100th year in operations with a series of commemorative events and a resurgence in private air travel.
On Aug. 5, Houston-based Western LLC announced it had signed a ground lease to build high-end corporate and executive hangar space. Plans are for six luxury units for a total of more than 63,000 square feet.
Western has been developing similar corporate and executive hangar space in Texas locations including Midland, Pearland, San Marcos, Angleton and Harlingen. It touted the Stinson location as being only 6 miles south of the downtown central business district and for having easy access to major highways.
Texas Air Shuttle, which operates a tiered "club-flying" membership model that allows members to reserve space on private jet flights, is awaiting FAA approval to fly out of S.A.
And the owner of the popular Brown Bag Sandwich Shop said she's glad she finally listened to advice and opened a second location at Stinson on Aug. 3.
"Now, honestly I think, 'Why did I wait?'" owner Jaynee Escobedo said. "I see so much potential. I think the timing coming in is just really good."
The data from the Federal Aviation Administration back up what the businesses are experiencing.
In September 2013, Stinson had 2,668 takeoffs and landings. In September 2014, there were 2,764. In September 2015, there were 3,094. Air taxi (chartering airplanes to get from point to point) traffic is particularly hot, going from 10 operations in September 2013 to 305 in September 2015.
It's a reversal of the downward trend at the San Antonio International Airport, which saw operations dip from 14,244 in September 2013 to 13,529 operations in September 2015, aviation analyst Brian Foley said.
"You're bucking the trend from SAT," he said, referring to San Antonio International Airport. "Just looking at it, general aviation is the primary driver."
Stinson's history dates back to 1915, around the time of the opening of the family-owned Stinson School of Flying. Katherine Stinson, a young pianist, in 1912 became the fourth woman in the U.S. to earn a pilot's license. She came to be known as the "Flying Schoolgirl," taking to the air to perform at state and county fairs.
Her siblings soon followed. Younger sister Marjorie Stinson at 19 became the world's ninth female pilot. The namesake Stinson School of Flying was founded by the four Stinson siblings. Among other chunks of Stinson's aviation history: Charles Lindbergh was stationed at Brooks Field and kept a personal plane there.
The airport's legacy has since continued as a training field and a general aviation facility. Its heyday was in the late 1930s, but growth was limited because it was walled in by a cemetery, Spanish colonial missions and established neighborhoods.
But city officials have been rethinking Stinson, with a new control tower and airfield improvements in the works and a hike and bike trail to connect it to the Mission Reach on the drawing board.
"The thought behind that is that we have a lot of people that come to Stinson specifically not only to utilize the facility but because it is so historic." said Tim O'Krongley, the city's assistant aviation director.
Now with the World Heritage designation for the missions and the Mission Reach, "there's a lot of activities down there," O'Krongley said. "So we've talked to the National Park Service and we all agree that we should work together to offer all of these services to the people to come down."
City Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran, whose district includes Stinson, said there was a lot of conversation about ways to make the most of Stinson.
"I think the focus is turning toward Stinson, not just looking at it historically but looking at it as a viable economic airport still," she said. "The hike and bike trail is one of the ways that we hope we can engage our visitors, our tourists and our locals, can see our aviation history that we have here. ... People riding on the river can come up, see Stinson, take a look around, look at the Texas Air Museum and then head right down the street to Mission San Juan."
