Southwest Airlines sues city of San Antonio because it wants to be in new terminal

The airline, which accounts for 37% of traffic at San Antonio International, doesn't want to be stuck in an aging terminal.

click to enlarge A Southwest Airlines 737-700 lands at an airport. - Shutterstock / lorenzatx
Shutterstock / lorenzatx
A Southwest Airlines 737-700 lands at an airport.
Southwest Airlines filed a federal lawsuit against the City of San Antonio on Thursday over ongoing disagreements about a lease renewal at San Antonio International Airport.

Southwest's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Antonio, accuses city officials of wrongfully discriminating against the airline.

The legal filing comes days after Mayor Ron Nirenberg and City Manager Erik Walsh flew to the airline's headquarters in Dallas to try to come up with a deal. However, that trip didn't appear to quell the dispute, according to the Express-News.

The disagreement between San Antonio International's largest tenant and the city stems from a proposed 10-year lease agreement making Southwest Airlines the sole tenant of Terminal A, according to the suit. That lease agreement, which includes a five-year renewal option, goes into effect Oct. 1.

However, Southwest doesn't want to be locked up in the aging Terminal A. Instead, company officials have their eyes on the new $1.7 billion Terminal C, slated to open in 2028.

Adding insult to injury: American and Delta were assigned to the new Terminal C, despite Southwest operating 37% of the airport's total traffic.

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Michael Karlis

Michael Karlis is a Staff Writer at the San Antonio Current. He is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., whose work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Orlando Weekly, NewsBreak, 420 Magazine and Mexico Travel Today. He reports primarily on breaking news, politics...

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