San José International Airport (SJC), officially Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport and branded as San José Mineta International Airport, is a city-owned public airport in San Jose, California (thanks, Wikipedia!).
SJC opened in 1939. Located 3 miles northwest of Downtown San Jose, the airport serves the city and the Santa Clara Valley region (both in the greater San Francisco Bay Area). It has 2 terminals:
Terminal A has 17 gates. It also boasts two paid entry lounges; both are “The Club at SJC.” Airlines that use Terminal A include American Airlines, Delta, Hawaiian Airlines, jetBlue, Spirit, United Airlines, and volaris.
Terminal B has 20 gates, two of which are used for international flights. Alaska Airlines, Southwest and Zipair all use Terminal B.
So obviously, SJC isn’t huge. But they accommodated just under 12.1 million passengers in 2023, which was 6.7% higher than the passenger totals for 2022. So yep, like so many other airports, 2023 was better than 2022, and they’re working their way back up to pre-pandemic numbers (they had 15.7 million PAX in 2019).
Like many airlines, the people in charge of SJC’s social media have a good sense of humor. For example, when the Wall Street Journal ranked SJC as the best-midsized airport, they shouted it out to the world with “happy tears”:
*wipes happy tears* Dreams really do come true.
We're proud to share @wsj ranked SJC as the Best Midsize #Airport in the U.S. based on reliability, value and convenience. Read more: https://t.co/3MJryzLMVv#sanjoseca #bayarea pic.twitter.com/jRDilvweNd
— San José Mineta International Airport (SJC) (@FlySJC) November 16, 2023
And its regular passengers apparently love SJC, too:
Entered parking garage at 11:42a. Parked at 11:46a. Into security line at 11:48a. Through security at 11:50a. At gate at 11:53a.
11 minutes garage to gate. Never change, @FlySJC! pic.twitter.com/M4QNaGfOyO
— Troy Clardy (@TroyClardy) February 19, 2024
So it’s absolutely “on brand” that when SJC wanted some fresh, new advertising, they approached Civilian ad agency to develop a brand awareness campaign that included something “cool” that’ll get noticed by everyone in Silicon Valley. Here are a few of them:
PC: civilian.com
PC: civilian.com
They even have signs INSIDE the airport with this very important information! As seen by the Southwest gates (via u/jennieFairplay):
You keep being you, SJC!
And you heard them – THE MIDDLE SEAT GETS BOTH ARM RESTS. Them’s the rules!
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1 comment
Will see what San Jose’s newish mayor gets done.
In the 1980s SJC became a hub for American Airlines. Terminal A was added onto but was originally built for the short haul carriers, Air California and PSA. The temporary pier add on was never replaced. I believe AA left at least partially over frustration with the airport. Reno Air assumed hub operations.
The newest terminal was built when a Mayor who was tightwad, had little insight made the airport remove many features, like moving sidewalks, room for clubs, reduced gates.
The pandemic took out a lot of the local stores and restaurants that gave SJC some character.
Sadly the airport does not properly reflect San Jose, or Silicon Valley.