Airport Tour

Airport Operations & Technology Symposium attendees have the opportunity to take a tour of San Jose Mineta International Airport's facilities on Thursday, August 22.

Please note that registration for the tour is separate and must be added during the symposium registration process. There will be a waitlist, as the tour is capped at 25 attendees.

Tour Timeline

• Pick-up from hotel: 8 a.m.
• Tour: 8:30 - 11 a.m.
• Return to the hotel: 11:30 a.m. (or stay at airport to catch flights home).

What to Expect

1. ARFF & Landside Fire Station #20
   The ARFF & Landside Fire Station building is a combined, dual purpose fire station designed to meet the needs of the traveling public and the community at large.  The project utilized multiple funding sources ranging from city general funds & a local bond for the landside station, as well as Airport local share and FAA AIP grants for the ARFF station.  To add to the complexity of project, the entire construction process took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring the team to quickly implement the county mandated protocols to keep the staff and contractors safe during construction while also working around the procurement issues that arose during the pandemic.  Despite all of the challenges that were encountered along the way, the ARFF & Landside Fire Station #20 project was delivered on time, under budget and was the recipient of several awards including the 2022 Engineering News Record (ENR) Award of Merit, 2023 Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) National Award of Merit in the Aviation Category and the 2023 International Partnering Institute (IPI) John L. Martin Partnered Project of the Year Diamond Level.

2. Facilities Administrative & Fleet Maintenance Buildings
   The Facilities Administrative & Fleet Maintenance Buildings were designed to provide the appropriate workspaces for both Airport Facilities and Fleet Maintenance staff.  Being an enabling project for a future belly cargo facility, the Facilities Administration & Fleet Maintenance Project was faced with an aggressive schedule from the onset, requiring it to reach substantial completion in 400 days from the issuance of the notice to proceed.  This limited time frame required the team to strategize early in the design process to ensure that critical decisions concerning long lead items were made both rapidly and thoughtfully.  With the assistance and cooperation of the entire team, the project was able to stay on schedule and reach substantial completion prior to the deadline.  In addition, with the project nearing completion, it is well under budget and is projected to reach final completion by the end of September.

3. Terminal Building

   • Daifuku’s Bag-UX leverages Daifuku’s Self Bag Drop vision technology for baggage analysis. Utilizing a deep learning artificial intelligence model to quickly and accurately analyze bags in motion on a collector conveyor, Bag-UX can detect improperly oriented bags as well as unconveyable items and prevent them from entering the Baggage Handling System (BHS), significantly reducing jams and other downstream issues.

   • Blueberry Technology Inc. is a San Jose-based startup specializing in customer-centric solutions for autonomous personal mobility. We design, manufacture, and provide autonomous personal mobility vehicles to address last-mile transportation challenges and enhance customer satisfaction. Our flagship product, BBGo, is a fleet-ready, fully autonomous vehicle designed specifically for airport environments, offering all users the freedom to navigate and explore airports effortlessly. Over the past year, we have successfully conducted trials and pilots at multiple US airports and are excited about our mission to bring accessible mobility to everyone.