Whataburger to Open at San Antonio International Airport
Aug. 24—Whataburger will open at San Antonio International Airport next year in a space originally slated for Chick-fil-A.
The announcement Tuesday morning caps off the controversy in which City Council in 2019 barred the chicken-sandwich chain from opening an airport restaurant because of concerns over donations by the company's charitable foundation and founder to groups opposing LGBTQ rights.
San Antonio Aviation Director Jesus Saenz Jr. said Whataburger "is a beloved chain that is based in San Antonio." The burger chain's corporate headquarters is located off U.S. 281 near the airport.
The Whataburger location in Terminal A may not open until next spring. The company is finalizing a lease agreement with Paradies Lagardere Travel Retail, the airport's concessionaire.
Saenz was joined by Whataburger CEO Ed Nelson and Paradies Lagardere Travel Retail CEO Gregg Paradies at the Tuesday news conference.
The Whataburger restaurant will be located in the space once occupied by fast-food chain Raising Cane's, which lost its lease after Paradies Lagardere Travel Retail won the concession contract for the airport.
The announcement comes two and half years after the City Council voted 6-4 vote to exclude Chick-fil-A from an airport concessions agreement bringing new restaurants to the airport's Terminal A.
The vote sparked a national controversy over whether the city was discriminating against Chick-fil-A. Mayor Ron Nirenberg received numerous emails denouncing the decision.
State lawmakers subsequently passed what became known as the Chick-Fil-A law, which bars discrimination against companies or individuals based on their religions beliefs.
Chick-Fil-A corporate and foundation values are influenced by the religious beliefs of its late founder, Truett Cathy, a devout Southern Baptist. The chain, for example, is closed on Sundays.
Nirenberg, who was not present at Tuesday's airport news conference, had supported the resolution by then- District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño, who argued that Chick-Fil-A should not be able to operate in the airport because of its foundation's donations to anti-LGBT organizations.
The mayor had suggested that Whataburger could replace Chick-fil-A in 2019 after the council vote. The hometown burger chain confirmed at the time that it was in negotiations with Paradies Lagardere for the spot that would have held Chick-fil-A.
But it later withdrew from negotiations because of a since-dismissed lawsuit by religious-freedom activists in state court against the city of San Antonio and Paradies Lagardere.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused further delays in a resumption of negotiations.
San Antonio was forced in September 2020 to offer Chick-Fil-A its spot back at the airport, a condition by the the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Civil Rights under the Trump administration to drop an investigation into the city's Chick-fil-A decision.
The city-owned airport could have lost millions of dollars in federal funds.
Chick-Fil-A said no to the offer. It said customers could patronize its 30-plus locations elsewhere in the San Antonio area.
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