San Jose International Airport

A $1.8-billion expansion of Mineta San Jose International Airport's passenger terminal complex is ready for takeoff. After 15 years of planning, political debate, lawsuits and elections, all the transportation improvements required by a ballot measure last year are on track around the airport, Mayor Ron Gonzales announced. The final piece of the puzzle -- state funding for improvements to the congested Coleman Avenue-Interstate 880 interchange -- has been confirmed, Gonzales said.

For $79.95, you can avoid an airport bottleneck. Or at least get through it a little faster. San Jose's international airport announced Wednesday that it will become the second airfield in the country to offer passengers the opportunity to avoid some security checks by paying an additional fee and undergoing background checks. If the system is approved by the Transportation Security Administration, as expected, passengers who pay $79.

A walkout by drivers from cab companies that serve San Jose International Airport tied up passenger transportation Monday. Only 40 of the usual 280 Yellow Checker and United Cab Co. taxis were operating. The airport called in other companies to help, and was encouraging passengers to take shuttles, buses or rental cars. Drivers say since the Sept.

A $1.8-billion expansion of Mineta San Jose International Airport's passenger terminal complex is ready for takeoff. After 15 years of planning, political debate, lawsuits and elections, all the transportation improvements required by a ballot measure last year are on track around the airport, Mayor Ron Gonzales announced. The final piece of the puzzle -- state funding for improvements to the congested Coleman Avenue-Interstate 880 interchange -- has been confirmed, Gonzales said.

The company contracted to repair shuttle buses at San Jose International Airport may have "systematically defrauded" the city, police said in a court affidavit. Mobile Equipment Repair Service Inc. is suspected of fraudulent billings for bus maintenance and repairs that cost San Jose taxpayers nearly $1 million last year, police said. The affidavit had been filed in Superior Court in support of a request for a search warrant.

A 6-year-old boy's toy gun and a security mix-up led to a major evacuation Saturday at the San Jose International Airport, causing flight delays that affected travelers nationwide, police said. Police evacuated about a thousand people from Terminal A after X-ray checkpoint officials reported what appeared to be a handgun in a knapsack about 10 a.m., said Dennis Luca, commander of the airport's police force.

Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Larry Ellison will be allowed to land his private jet at San Jose International Airport after curfew--at least for a while, a federal judge ruled. The city's 11 p.m. airport curfew was not invalidated by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel's decision to temporarily grant Ellison's Gulfstream V permission to land. The order will stand only until Ellison's suit against the city is settled.

No charges will be filed against a Maine couple arrested at San Jose International Airport for packing materials to look like a bomb in their luggage and attaching a note deriding security workers, authorities said. Paul Donahue, 50, and Teresa Wood, 46, both of Machias, Maine, were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of possessing a false bomb -- a felony -- after Transportation Security Administration workers discovered a snow boot with a battery pack and power strip attached to it in their luggage.

For $79.95, you can avoid an airport bottleneck. Or at least get through it a little faster. San Jose's international airport announced Wednesday that it will become the second airfield in the country to offer passengers the opportunity to avoid some security checks by paying an additional fee and undergoing background checks. If the system is approved by the Transportation Security Administration, as expected, passengers who pay $79.

No charges will be filed against a Maine couple arrested at San Jose International Airport for packing materials to look like a bomb in their luggage and attaching a note deriding security workers, authorities said. Paul Donahue, 50, and Teresa Wood, 46, both of Machias, Maine, were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of possessing a false bomb -- a felony -- after Transportation Security Administration workers discovered a snow boot with a battery pack and power strip attached to it in their luggage.

A walkout by drivers from cab companies that serve San Jose International Airport tied up passenger transportation Monday. Only 40 of the usual 280 Yellow Checker and United Cab Co. taxis were operating. The airport called in other companies to help, and was encouraging passengers to take shuttles, buses or rental cars. Drivers say since the Sept.

Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Larry Ellison will be allowed to land his private jet at San Jose International Airport after curfew--at least for a while, a federal judge ruled. The city's 11 p.m. airport curfew was not invalidated by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel's decision to temporarily grant Ellison's Gulfstream V permission to land. The order will stand only until Ellison's suit against the city is settled.

"Larry-and-the-airport." That's the shorthand. The conflict has gone on for so long that shorthand is enough. Sometimes the words come with a chuckle, as in, "That kooky Larry-and-the-airport." Sometimes they're bitter. ("That #$@!-ing Larry-and-the-airport.") Sometimes they connote an epic standoff, though Larry-and-the-airport is, at its most basic, just a court case in which a ruling is expected any day now. Larry is Larry Ellison, founder and chief executive of Oracle Corp.

San Jose, the biggest city in Silicon Valley, has sent letters to six major airlines threatening to sue or ban them from the airport, citing numerous violations of the city's airport curfew. San Jose International Airport has a curfew from 11:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. every day, but airlines are allowed to fly during those hours if they are delayed because of mechanical, weather or air traffic control problems. The San Jose city attorney's office has sent letters to Southwest Airlines Co., AMR Corp.'

A 6-year-old boy's toy gun and a security mix-up led to a major evacuation Saturday at the San Jose International Airport, causing flight delays that affected travelers nationwide, police said. Police evacuated about a thousand people from Terminal A after X-ray checkpoint officials reported what appeared to be a handgun in a knapsack about 10 a.m., said Dennis Luca, commander of the airport's police force.

Eight-year-old Matt stood in the middle of the control tower, studying the electric map of San Jose International Airport, trying to juggle the incoming and outgoing air traffic. That accomplished, he slid down the runway, right between the flashing lights. Of course he wasn't sliding down a real runway but a slide at San Jose's KidPort, a free airport play area designed for children that also allows them to learn something about aviation.

To crowded skies, rain-slick runways and an occasional fog bank, pilots landing at San Jose International Airport can add yet another hazard: foxes. Lately, it seems, a dozen or so furry creatures entrenched in a den between two runways have been playing a game of chicken with commercial aircraft at the state's third-largest airport. The results have been unpleasant and potentially dangerous.