San Jose Airport's passenger trip struggles persist well into 2026

SAN JOSE — San Jose International Airport experienced passenger trip struggles during March, even though the city hosted multiple college basketball tournament games that month.

The South Bay aviation hub’s underperformance signals that the airport’s inability to attract more passenger activity has lingered, even years after the coronavirus pandemic devastated travel and hotel activity worldwide and in the Bay Area.

Over the one-year period that ended in March, San Jose Airport handled 10.37 million passengers. That was down 10.9% from the 11.65 million passengers the airport accommodated over the equivalent 12 months ending in March 2025.

The airport’s passenger trips during the most recently reported one-year period were 33.7% below the 15.65 million passengers that San Jose Airport accommodated in 2019, the year before the onset of COVID-linked business shutdowns.

A review of the longer-term trends for San Jose Airport shows that the airport’s post-coronavirus rebound has sputtered.

Passenger trip totals jumped in 2021, 2022 and 2023 compared with the prior year. But passenger activity decreased in 2024 and 2025, and the ongoing 12-month trends suggest that 2026 could be a bumpy year as well for San Jose Airport.

On a shorter-term basis, the airport’s passenger trips during March represented mixed results.

In March, San Jose Airport handled nearly 772,500 passengers. That was down 12.2% compared with the same month the year before but was up 4% from February of this year.

In an encouraging mini-trend, passenger trips through San Jose Airport have increased for two months in a row compared with the prior month.

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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 8:42 AM.