Majuki

I read a sign at the door a week ago that said paid F HA customers are welcome in the morning before the HNL departure. I don't know when this policy began, but 10 extra people per day isn't enough to make a dent in the traffic to the club. (I just checked Expert Flyer, and it seems that the HA flight is only about 60% full in F.)

formeraa

First, PeoplExpress was much larger than AirCal. Second, EWR is part of the NYC area, the largest concentration of people in the US. Third, Asia was (and is) far more regulated than Europe. So, route authorities were hard to come by. Fourth, dot com bust hit SJC very, very hard. Fifth, SJC originally had runway length issues which caused regular weight restrictions on both NRT and HNL.

All American Flyer

Very true! Not to say that there aren't more pragmatic folks in government, but most of the airport management folks don't truly understand the nature of the airline industry. It's not as if the City Council or airport board members use the Admiral's Club regularly. These folks operate in a very formulaic way. Like the powerpoint posted by mvedda said, the management felt that it was necessary to raise more money thus they increased rent. There is very little concern for the repercussions of one's actions in a bureaucracy. It's not as if they're going to get laid off by these cuts.

AAerSTL

Agreed, it's quite revealing of the situation in CA right now. I'm going to look up the SJC Airport General Obligation (GO) bonds on Bloomberg tomorrow at work. I'm curious to see what they are rated, coupon and their relative value in the market place. People in the Bay Area, in my experience, seem to be very sensitive to cutbacks of any kind. Perhaps it has a lot to do with the grassroots, progressive mindset that many seem to identify with their (which is a good thing IMHO). One needs to look no further than the BOS-SFO/AUA/STT/PLS gone; DFW-BGI added thread to see what I'm talking about-virtually all the complaints were from Bay Area travelers and not BOS/New England based people like me.

Don't get me wrong-it's a great state and I love visiting but they are in a serious fiscal crisis right now and will be for a long time. Even STL or MCI have been able to maintain their Admirals Clubs this long and STL has a DL club in the works currently.

Somehow what BOS is doing seems to be working. Massports passenger numbers continue to increase and we have by and large clean, modern, functional facilities (except Terminal C perhaps). Logan has improved tremendously since the beginning of last decade and continues to work well and recruit new air service. Logan is also one of four airports in the United States (the other three being New York-Laguardia, Washington Reagan and LAX) to have airline clubs operating for every legacy carrier-AA, CO, DL, UA, US. I think the future of Bay Area air travel will be similar to BOS-much of it has been and will be concentrated at SFO. PVD and MHT still have WN, but legacies have cut capacity there in favor of BOS. AA is supposedly returning to PVD next year sometime^

Sure it's unfortunate, but the sky certainly isn't falling down.

seacarl

SJC was once a very convenient, easy airport - like BUR or LGB.

Rental cars out in front of the terminal. Easy-in and easy-out. Low frills.

Then they (over-) built Terminal A. Costs went up. They moved the rental cars to the area near 101/Guadalupe. Now it takes two complete loops of the airport to pick up a car and exit, and another loop to return. And communal grey rental car buses which don't come often enough so when you arrive in the morning you wait in a long, long line and watch several buses pass until you get on. And on your way back, instead of pullign up 45 mins before your flight, you need 90 minutes to get on a bus to come back. Oh, and let's add on a $10 transportation fee for the privilege.

SJC turns into small town service with big town hassles and fees.

Is anyone surprised by what happened?

What's making it worse is that they built a second Taj Mahal, which now has debt service spread over declining flights and passengers.

OAK which didn't spend, and accepts a role as a secondary airport, is doing fine.

This probably won't end well for SJC - unless traffic picks up enough to put SFO over capacity. But if SFO figures out its runways, then SJC will hurt for a long time. The AC is only a symptom, not a cause.

WChou

Majuki: Good info. Paid F only is a pretty small number. Cutting out upgraders and Pualani elites pretty much guarantees low traffic.

All American Flyer: Yep, much of their decisions are pure numbers. Another example is parking. Right now parking at SJC is no bargain. Heck it's slightly more than SFO. One proposal in the Powerpoint is raising parking fees. At the same time, they want to further cut public transportation options to save money. Now a major benefit of secondary airports, cheap parking and easy access, is gone.

AAerSTL: As much as people complain about Massport, you are correct about BOS. Over the last decade, it's become a heck of an airport. The improvements came so quickly by government standards, it seems to have caught the folks at BDL, PVD, and MHT flatfooted as the legacies returned to Logan. Access is easy, facilities are modern, and there is healthy competition. Your club observation is a good one. Clubs are expensive and shows that carriers are committed to a long term presence. Despite the reductions at BOS, I am glad to see AA has renovated the AC. It's a sign that AA sees long term potential. If AA decides to reduce SJC further, I'll just start flying from SFO. Not as convenient but no big deal.

nkedel

Given the diminution of SJC in AA's network, I'm really glad I stayed nearer SFO rather than buying further south when I had been considering it.

Majuki

Also for reference, SJC's long-term parking rate is $17/day. SFO is $14/day. Depending on the time of day with SFO, you can luck out and have the long-term lot be full. That way you can get a voucher to park in the short-term lot. This happened frequently for me in May when they were doing some work on the long-term garage.

Sometimes I wish there were only OAK and SFO. Then it would be a clear choice for the legacies to put their weight behind SFO with the LCCs flying into OAK. Effectively, it may come to that. The only carriers who seem to be increasing service at SJC are AS and WN. All of the other legacies are reducing SJC service. I see the result as being a brand new shiny terminal with no tenants to fill it.

mvoight

Actually it's $15 and has been for a few years
http://www.sjc.org/travelers.php?pag...overview&exp=2

Of course there are other places about as convenient to get to. I park for free at First and Metro on weekends, and park a block further on weekdays. There is a free shuttle from first and Metro.

mvoight

Higher rent is a factor, but there doesn't seem to be enough flights to support a club. There are many airports without a club that have more AA flights.

JerryFF

AA not only destroyed the AirCal network, they subsequently bought Reno Air and then dismantled their west coast network as well.

SFO777

But look at all the mad dogs we get to fly around in.

nkedel

See, it wasn't all bad. (Ditto the ones they inherited from TWA. The old TWA-equipped 757s, however, ugh!)

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

Yeah, I booked an October trip to SJC instead of SFO just to check out this club that everyone raved about.

scubadu

Ummm... seriously? I'm struggling with envisioning myself intentionally modifying my travel itinerary to visit a ... Admiral's Club...

I mean a Flagship Lounge perhaps. Some International OneWorld Lounges perhaps. But an AC?

Sorry... I just don't get it.

Oh well, enjoy SJC airport!

Regards