AIRPORT REPORT: SAN ANTONIO
The many faces of San Antonio. Military City USA, a place of innovation for technologies like the Xenex LightStrike (centre), and home to one of the US’s most colourful Fiestas.
On a mission
Airport director, Jesus Saenz, tells Joe Bates why he believes that it is only a matter of time before growth is back on the agenda at San Antonio International Airport.
W
ith such a strong military presence all around it, it should come as no surprise to learn that San Antonio International Airport (SAT) is determined to play a key role in Texas’ fight back against COVD-19. The airport – whose neighbours include four military bases housing 80,000 active-duty personnel – was quick to respond to the pandemic, forming its own Covid-19 Task Force and introducing a number of measures to help safeguard the health and wellbeing of passengers and staff. These have included enforcing social distancing measures, implementing new disinfection protocols, requiring all visitors to wear face masks, introducing over 200 hand sanitiser stations across the airport campus and, most recently, becoming the first airport in the world to purchase and deploy the Xenex LightStrike robot to help it combat the deadly virus. From the get-go SAT realised that reassuring the travelling public and airport staff about its efforts to combat COVID-19, subsequently restoring confidence in aviation, would be key to its recovery. As a result its response to the pandemic has also included improving its communication – and specifically the relaying of important information and messages – with different airport stakeholders, and launching a number of consumer confidence videos to reassure passengers that SAT is safe to use. “The resumption of services is critical. However, how we manage through this storm is equally important,” says airport director, Jesus Saenz. “My old adage is if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, so that is why we developed and established our Covid-19 Task Force, which coupled with
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a very strategic airport playbook with a plethora of activities and guiding principles are designed to win back passenger confidence and faith in all that we are doing here.” Saenz is particularly proud of SAT’s deployment of the locally made Xenex LightStrike robot, which uses ultraviolet (UV) room disinfection technology to eliminate SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Operated by the airport’s terminal services staff, it can be used anywhere in the airport – to include jet bridges, gate areas, ticketing counters, baggage claim, concessions, elevators and restrooms – where there are high-touch surfaces or high volumes of traffic.
Impact of COVID-19 on traffic Like most airports, SAT’s worst days during the pandemic were in March, April and May when its enplanement numbers fell from last year’s average of 15,000 passengers per day to just a few hundred. However, the enplanement figure rose to between 4,000 and 5,000 passengers a day in July and August, and Saenz believes that the recovery of the last few months is reflective of the immediate steps the airport took to ensure the overall health and wellbeing of passengers and staff. He is also quick to note that the city administration’s decision to replicate many of the COVID-19 practices implemented at SAT across the entire county and region have been a major success and benefitted the whole community, keeping infection levels down and people safe. As a result, Saenz reveals that he continues to go into work as he feels perfectly safe at San Antonio International Airport and “wants to lead by example”.
