Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport traces its commercial origins to February 1, 1949, when a Southwest Airways DC-3 touched down for the airport's dedication ceremonies, carrying two pilots, seven passengers, and 2,550 baby chickens. Only the chickens deplaned in San Jose; the human passengers continued south to Los Angeles. It was an inauspicious beginning for what would become Silicon Valley's primary air gateway.

The airport sits roughly 3 miles northwest of downtown San Jose, inside Santa Clara County, and draws its identity almost entirely from its surroundings. Apple, Google, and Meta all have headquarters within 20 miles of the field. That proximity shapes the passenger mix: business travelers and engineers dominate the load factors, and the airport's reputation for efficiency (compact terminals, short security lines, fast bag claim) has made it the preferred option for tech-world road warriors who value time over spectacle. Passenger traffic peaked at 14.2 million during the dot-com boom in 2001, and the airport has served roughly 10-12 million passengers annually in recent years, ranking it second among Bay Area airports behind SFO.

The airfield operates 2 parallel runways, designated 12L/30R and 12R/30L, each 11,000 feet long. The terminal footprint was comprehensively modernized under a $1.3 billion program completed in 2010, which delivered a new Terminal B (at the time, the largest U.S. airport project constructed using the design-build method) and a full renovation of Terminal A. Southwest Airlines dominates, accounting for roughly half of all passenger traffic, with Alaska Airlines the second largest carrier. International destinations include Tokyo, London, and multiple Mexican cities. The airport was renamed in honor of Norman Y. Mineta in November 2001, while Mineta was serving as U.S. Secretary of Transportation, a recognition of the San Jose native who spent decades advocating for the airport's growth.