San Antonio airport officials told the City Council on Wednesday that it could transition its vehicle parking management and services to a private operator starting this summer.
The goal of the outsourcing plan is to reduce operating and maintenance costs and increase profits in one of the airport system’s largest non-aeronautical revenue sources.
From a list of four top proposals, airport officials have selected Cleveland-based SP Plus Corporation to manage all vehicle parking operations at the airport through a 10-year contract.
In fiscal year 2023, parking fees generated $31 million for the airport system, funds that support the maintenance and operations at SAT and the Stinson Municipal Airport. By privatizing parking operations, airport officials estimated revenue will increase from a projected $309 million in the first 10 years to $376 million.
Director of Airports Jesus Saenz first told City Council members about the proposal to solicit for parking services in 2022 and released a request for proposals the following year.
“We are one of the last medium-hub airports that has not outsourced or looked at this optimization parking operator condition,” Saenz said.
“The geographical [use] of our airport is expanding [and] the number of days that our customers are parked is increasing,” he added. “This is all good. However, we need to improve and capture the curb-to-gate flow management with new technologies to better understand passenger movements, provide improved levels of service and introduce new parking options and alternatives.”
Council is scheduled to vote on the selection of SP Plus Corporation at its April 11 meeting. None of the four were locally owned companies.
SP Plus manages parking in 160 commercial airport systems, including those in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso and Laredo. Outside of Texas, SP Plus provides parking services for the Los Angeles and Boston Logan international airports and others.
The company would take over from the city management of all ground and garage parking, providing services through an app-based reservation system. The pre-paid option is a matter of convenience for users of a regional airport like SAT.
“We have over 2 million people that reside here in San Antonio but our geographical users [of the airport] are 5.7 million,” Saenz said. “So as people are coming from different [faraway places] that they have a parking spot, whether that be on a surface area, long-term garage or short-term garage.”
SP Plus also will provide shuttle and valet services and a baggage checking service as well as security in parking areas.
The agreement calls for the city to pay SP Plus a management fee of $282,000 the first year, increasing 3% annually. SP Plus will also have the opportunity to share in new revenue it generates for the airport on a percentage basis as profits rise.
Saenz said standard parking rates won’t change and free parking for disabled veterans will remain. But the vendor’s systems will allow it to discount pricing during “down” times to incentivize and maximize usage of airport parking, thus increasing revenue for the airport.
Council members reacted positively to the proposal for a private parking operator at the airport — as long as rates are not increased and greater convenience is provided.
“I am really excited about the technological component of this and really improving convenience in shortening the time people are driving around looking for parking space,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said.
Parking rates are controlled by the city, not the contractor, Saenz said.
“Everything that we have demonstrated and provided to you today incorporates no changes to our prices today,” he added.
Some members of the Council also asked whether the airport’s 34-member parking staff, who are City of San Antonio employees, would lose their jobs as a result of outsourcing parking operations.
Saenz said airport leaders have met with every individual who will be affected and said that some are planning to take jobs with SP Plus while others will move into other city positions or retire.
The switch to a private parking vendor comes less than a month after the San Antonio airport marked its busiest-ever single day at the airport, March 8, when more than 41,600 passengers flew through San Antonio during spring break.
Saenz also told the council that the design and permitting process continues for a ground load facility that is set to open in summer 2025.
In February, the airport announced that the Federal Aviation Administration had awarded the airport $30 million in grants for construction of a new terminal and upgrades to terminal A, part of the 20-year, $2.5 billion Airport Strategic Plan approved by City Council in late 2021.
