Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport is a city-owned public airport in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. It is named for San Jose native Norman Yoshio Mineta, Transportation Secretary in the Cabinet of George W. Bush and Commerce Secretary in the Cabinet of Bill Clinton. The name also recognizes Mineta’s service as a Councilman for, and Mayor of, San Jose. It is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection international Port of entry. It is two miles northwest of Downtown San Jose near the intersections of U.S. Route 101, Interstate 880, and State Route 87. The dominant carrier is Southwest Airlines; Alaska Airlines with its regional subsidiary Horizon Air is second largest. The airport has free Wi-Fi in the entire terminal.
The San Jose City Council has considered renaming the airport San Jose/Silicon Valley Mineta International Airport. The city believes that the new name would help airlines’ marketing.
NORMAN Y. MINETA SAN JOSE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HISTORY
In 1939 Ernie Renzel, a wholesale grocer and future mayor of San Jose, led a group that negotiated an option to buy 483 acres (1.95 km2) of the Stockton Ranch from the Crocker family, to be the site of San Jose’s airport. Renzel led the effort to pass a bond measure to pay for the land in 1940. In 1945 test pilot James Nissen leased about 16 acres (65,000 m2) of this land to build a runway, hangar and office building for a flight school. When the city of San Jose decided to develop a municipal airport, Nissen sold his share of the aviation business and became San Jose’s first airport manager. Renzel and Nissen were instrumental in the development of San Jose Municipal Airport over the next few decades, culminating with the 1965 opening of what later became Terminal C.
The runway that became 12R/30L was 4,500 feet (1,400 m) until about 1962—Brokaw Rd was the northwest boundary of the airport. In 1964 it was 6,312 feet (1,924 m), in 1965 it was 7787 ft, and a few years later it reached 8900 ft, where it stayed until around 1991. The two runways are now 11,000 feet (3,400 m).
NORMAN Y. MINETA SAN JOSE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LOCATION
NORMAN Y. MINETA SAN JOSE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FACTS
ICAO/IATA: KSJC/SJC
Lat: 37°21′46″N
Long: 121°55′45″W
Elevation: 62 ft.
Runway length available: 11/29 4599×100 ft. :: 12R/30L 11000×150 ft. :: 2L/30R 11000×150 ft.
