The McAllen International Airport is looking to build out its 150,000-square-foot-plus terminal during a time when the airfield is setting all-time total traveler records on a monthly basis.

In July, 114,694 passengers utilized the McAllen airport, which set an all-time monthly traveler record. The July traveler number marked an eight percent improvement over June, which at the time with 105,508 passengers represented a new monthly record. In all, for 2024, air traffic in McAllen has increased 23 percent year-over-year as of July. There are also 70 percent more flights since the same time in 2023.

Driving the growth, said Jeremy Santoscoy, the city’s director of aviation, is the addition of more flights by its legacy carriers. Newer airlines also added flights from McAllen to Austin, Mexico City and Tampa/St. Petersburg. The airport’s calling card for years was its business travel passengers on American and United Airlines. A decline in that travel category became evident in 2020, when more business meetings went the route of video conferences. That trend has started to go in a positive direction for air travel, adding to the airport’s passenger volume growth.

“Business travel lagged during the pandemic years, but we do see a trend of it coming back,” Santoscoy said. “You can’t take out the human factor completely out of doing business, and as we see that return, we will be here to support it.”

‘Feeling The Pinch’

The increase in passenger volume is crowding current facilities and space at MFE, which is the airline industry’s code name for the McAllen airport. 

The city received $7.4 million in federal funding to undergo a study to make design improvements at the airport and determine the additional space and facilities that are needed. 

“We are starting to feel the pinch in the terminal,” Santoscoy said of more passengers traveling from MFE. “We’re going through the process right now of looking at how we could expand in the terminal.”

The McAllen airport opened in the 1990 with 100,000 square feet of facility space. In 2015, 55,000 square feet was added to provide more gate space. The current study is looking at all aspects of the airport’s facilities from its baggage areas to boarding gates and security checkpoints along with main terminal areas where passengers check  in.

“With the volume of people coming through right now, some areas are getting very tight,” Santoscoy said. “We’ve outpaced some of what was added in the previous expansion.”

Growing Volume

The growth in traveler volume at MFE reflects the addition of nonstop flights to Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Mexico City.

Delta Airlines, which left MFE in 2006, has returned and now has daily McAllen-Austin flights. Those flights have filled a void in air travel from the Rio Grande Valley to the state’s capitol. Santoscoy calls it “a sweet spot,” with travelers going to Austin for government meetings and to attend educational and technology-related conferences. Delta has turned the Austin airport into a mini-hub for flights coming in-and-out of Texas, he said.

Travelers going to Mexico can now do so via Aeromexico with its one daily nonstop to Mexico City. Another Mexican airline, Volaris, offers twice-a-week nonstop flights to Cancun. The latter is considered leisure travel, as are the twice weekly flights to Tampa/St. Petersburg via Allegiant Air. 

The core business of MFE may be its business-oriented traveler clientele which flies to Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston via flights on American and United. Each airline offers seven flights daily from McAllen to the state’s two largest cities. In recent months, American has had up to nine flights daily to accommodate more travelers going from McAllen to DFW.

“The Valley is a growing region,” Santoscoy said. “We’re having successes up and down the Valley. We’re a true binational market and we’re here to meet the growth in demand for travelers.”

Big Picture Issues

Here are two key challenges Santoscoy sees in the commercial aviation industry.

One, he says, is a shortage in pilots. The sharp decline in passenger travel in 2020 and 2021 led to airline liquidations and the early retirement of many pilots. Air travel has picked up, but now airlines face “a real challenge to fill the gaps” in pilots in adding flights to meet demands, he said. 

Secondly, he said, airlines are having problems in new aircraft delivery, with delays from manufacturers like Boeing. The aviation manufacturer is under federal review due to incidents such as a passenger jet losing a rear door in mid-flight early this year over the Pacific Northwest. The manufacturing delays due to these incidents makes it difficult for airlines to grow their networks.

In light of these challenges, it’s noteworthy that McAllen and its airport are thriving with more flights and the accompanying growth in passengers.

“Not very many airports have bounced back from the pandemic like we have seen here and in the Valley,” he said.