San Jose International Airport history

1929 – A Citizens Airport Committee (CAC) was formed to seek out suitable properties for a municipal airport and obtain financial support of it.

1933 Bob and Cecil Reid construct their first airport, Garden City Airport” between San Antonio and Story Road

1935 Grand Opening of Garden City Airport

1937 Garden City Airport was purchased by the State for Highway 101 right of way.

1938 – US. Bureau of Air Commerce officials approve a site in the Laurelwood area north of San José for emergency landings when San Francisco was fogged in since San José averaged only 18 foggy days a year and it would dissipate by 10:00 a.m.

1939 Bob and Cecil Reid begin construction of their new airport, Reid’s Hillview Airport, at its current location

1940 – CAC finances $300k bond and City increases tax rate to buy 483 acres north of San José, the Crocker Estate.

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1944 - Ernie Renzel, Jr. is elected to the San José City Council and serves one year as "President of the Council" (also known today as the Mayor).

1945 At the end of the war, it was decided that only commercial and military airports would be allowed to reopen.

1946 The runway was paved

1947 – City is tentatively allocated over $100,000 in federal funds to begin construction on airport.

1948 San Jose Junior Chamber of Commerce issued a permit by the Board of Supervisors to hold an Air Circus at Reid-Hillview Airport on July 18, 1948.

1949 – Dedication ceremonies of the San José Municipal Airport were held after ten years of airport development efforts.

1953 – San José City Council appropriates over $270,000 for airport expansion, allowing the purchase of 76 additional acres of the Crocker Estate north of Brokaw Road and approved purchase of another 63 acres north of Kifer Road and south of Bayshore Highway.

1955 – SJC has one runway, power lines still looped across airport land, and the Guadalupe River east of the airport not yet realigned.

1958 – Fifty three acres is added to the airport with purchase of land north of Brokaw Road between Kifer Road and the Guadalupe River.

1959 –City of San José hires Radar and Associates, an engineering firm, to study the needs of the airport and develop a master plan.

1960 H.K. Freidman Report titled Airport Study General Aviation Requirements is published recommending that the County continue its interest in airport planning and takes steps to preserve and expand or replace Reid’s Hillview Airport.

1961 The airport name is changed from Reid’s Hillview Airport to Reid-Hillview Airport.

1962 The County receives a $363,285 grant from the Federal Government for land acquisition.

1963 The County receives a $384,878.00 grant from the Federal Government for land acquisition and to relocate Cunningham Avenue.

1964 The County receives a $346,570 grant from the Federal Government for land acquisition, hangar construction, and general development of the airport site.

1965 The leaseback to Bob and Cecil Reid expires and the County takes over management of the Airports.

1966 1.72 acre FBO plot leased to Gee Bee for 50 years

1967 Air Traffic Control Tower constructed by FAA. It was the first fully transistorized air traffic control tower in the United States

1968 2.24 acre FBO plot leased to Hacienda Aviation for 50 years

1969 –South Concourse of Terminal C is added for more airline gates and offices and the ticketing wing is expanded.

1970 2.16 acre FBO plot leased to AeroTrends for 50 years

1971 The County receives a 22,145.00 grant from the Federal Government for land acquisition.

1973 2.27 acre FBO plot leased to Gee Bee Aero for 50 years

1974 Updated runway lighting system installed

1977 – California artist Millard Sheets unveils a 20- by 30-foot mural in the main terminal depicting a millennium of Santa Clara Valley history.

1980 Amelia Reid and Velma Million successfully urged the city of San Jose to construct Lake Cunningham Park as a buffer area near the airport.

1984 –The City of San José implemented the Airport Noise Control Program to establish a nighttime curfew for certain aircraft operations.

1987 - Construction begins on Terminal A to add more capacity for airlines and passengers

1988 The County receives a $539,863.00 grant from the Federal Government for repaving the runways, taxiways and parking apron.

1989 After the Loma Prieta Earthquake, Reid-Hillview is used as a major starting point to provide supplies to Watsonville after all roads were cut off.

1990 – Terminal A opens to accommodate six million passengers a year.

1996 DRAFT Environmental Impact Report on the Reid-Hillview Airport Closure Project is released in March.

1997 – City Council approves new airport Master Plan to guide long-term expansion.

1998 The County receives a $151,200.00 grant from the Federal Government to complete a Part 150 Noise Compatibility Planning Study.

1999 Gregory Marconet lease assigned to JWA Enterprises LLC (Trade Winds Aviation)

2000 The County receives a $280,000.00 grant from the Federal Government to complete a Master Plan study.

In honor of his service to San José and the Nation, San José City Council officially added Norman Y. Mineta’s name to San José International Airport in November 2001, while Mineta was serving as Secretary of Transportation.

2002 – Passenger traffic falls sharply to 10.1 million per year following the dot-com bust and 9/11 impact on aviation and national economy.

2003 The County receives a $554,500 grant from the Federal Government for additional fencing and gates.

2004 – Groundbreaking for the North Concourse, the first phase of the planned comprehensive replacement of all SJC terminal facilities.

2005 The County receives a $435,000 grant from the Federal Government for parking apron rehabilitation and signage and markings.

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2007 The Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) for Reid-Hillview is adopted by the County.

2008 Amelia Reid Aviation FBO is transferred to Z. P. and renamed Aerodynamic Aviation.

2010 SJSU moves part of its Aviation program to Reid-Hillview Airport.

2011 FAA files Part 16 complaint against Santa Clara County due to skydiving at San Martin Airport.

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In spring of 2016, Mineta was designated as the Yale Chubb Fellow.

2017 The Roads and Airports Department takes a $3,000,000 loan from the General Fund to pave and remark all runways and taxiways at Reid-Hillview and San Martin Airport.

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