San Antonio’s first nonstop flight to Washington D.C. will officially take off on March 2, 2025.

American Airlines will launch the service, becoming the only airline to offer nonstop service between Reagan National Airport (DCA) and San Antonio International Airport (SAT).

Earlier this week, it was confirmed the nonstop flight from DCA to SAT would happen. The U.S. Department of Transportation formally approved an exemption to allow the nonstop flights.

“We have finally landed the plane,” Jesus Saenz, Director of Airports for the San Antonio Airport System, told KSAT in an interview. “Super excited about the partnership that we have established with American Airlines.”

There will be two flights daily, one going to DCA and the other to SAT.

Flight 1718 will depart from SAT at 6:35 a.m. and arrive at DCA at 10:41 a.m. The flight number is significant and commemorates the year San Antonio was founded.

Flight 1947 will depart from DCA at 7:45 p.m. and arrive at SAT at 10:43 p.m. The flight number commemorates the year the U.S. Air Force was established.

“This nonstop flight between SAT and DCA will have a transformative impact on San Antonio. We’re eager to capitalize on this opportunity with American Airlines and are committed to maximizing the economic benefits for our region,” said Erik Walsh, San Antonio City Manager.

This flight is important to the San Antonio community as our city is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. SAT has also continuously seen record-breaking travel numbers throughout 2024.

The need for a nonstop service will impact our military, business, educational and research communities, among others.

“I’m grateful to those who have championed this effort and for the bipartisan support of our representatives in the Senate and House, whose advocacy was instrumental in making these flights a reality. We look forward to the positive impact this nonstop service will have for years to come,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

Tickets for the new service will be available for purchase beginning Dec. 23 through aa.com or American’s mobile app.

The winner goes to Atlanta and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The loser goes home for the winter. It’s the College Football Playoff and two national brands that have never faced each other. Will it be a shootout in Texas? We find out Saturday.

12-SEED CLEMSON (10-3, 7-1 ACC) at 5-SEED TEXAS (11-2, 7-1 SEC)

WHEN: SATURDAY, DEC. 21, 4 P.M. ET
WHERE: DKR-TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM (100,119), AUSTIN, TEXAS
TELEVISION: TNT (Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Taylor McGregor, Laura Rutledge)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
RADIO: ESPN Radio (Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb, Dana Boyle)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 81

NOTABLE

*This season, Clemson earned its seventh College Football Playoff berth since the format’s inception in 2014. Clemson’s seven berths trail only Alabama (eight) for the most in the nation. Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney‘s seven CFP berths are the most of any active coach and one shy of Nick Saban (eight) for the most of any coach all-time.

*Though the game features two high-profile quarterbacks, the matchup will also feature two of the game’s emerging young stars on defense. Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons (12.5) and Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown (10.5) rank first and second in the nation, respectively, in tackles for loss by freshmen this season.

*Clemson is attempting to win multiple postseason games (conference championship, bowl game and/or national championship game) in a single season for the fifth time in school history (two in 2015, three in 2016, three in 2018 and two in 2019).

*Clemson attempting to produce its 12th 11-win season in program history, joining the 1948, 1978, 1981, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 seasons. It would be Clemson’s ninth season of 11-plus wins under Head Coach Dabo Swinney.

*The winner advances to play Arizona St. in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. That game is set for Wednesday, Jan. 1st at 1 pm.

ABOUT TEXAS

The Longhorns featured the nation’s No. 18 offense (445.4 yards per game), with quarterback Quinn Ewers leading the way. He has thrown for 2,665 yards (233 for 352, 66.2 percent) with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Backup Arch Manning has played in eight games (61-of-90, 939 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions).

However, Ewers is more of a dropback passer and has 42 attempts for minus-62 rushing yards. Unlike the NFL, in college a sack is counted as negative rushing yardage. Manning is more of a dual threat and has 21 carries for 100 yards.

Quintrevion Wisner is the leading rusher (176 carries for 863 yards, 4.9 yards per carry and 71.92 yards per game). Jaydon Blue has carried it 112 times for 564 yards, giving the Longhorns a true two-back tandem.

Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond was the big news in the offseason at wide receiver, but he tallied just 33 catches for 532 yards and five touchdowns [According to ESPN, he faces “long odds” of playing due to recovering from a high ankle sprain still]. Matthew Golden leads Texas with 738 yards on 47 catches, but tight end Gunnar Helms is Ewers’ go-to guy on third down – he has 49 receptions for 611 yards.

Defensively, the Longhorns are ranked third nationally in total defense, giving up just 249.5 yards per game. Texas is ranked second nationally in scoring defense, giving up just 12.5 points per game. Texas ranks 15th nationally against the run (106.38 yards per game) and No. 1 nationally against the pass, giving up just 143.1 yards per game.

Texas gave up over 100 rushing yards seven times, twice to Georgia (108 and 141), and a season-high 197 against Florida. Kentucky managed just 21 yards on the ground in its loss.

Only two teams cracked the 200-yard mark through the air against Longhorns – Michigan (204), and Kentucky (211). Florida is the only school to crack 300 yards of total offense, with 329 yards. That 329-yard mark would serve as the fourth-lowest for the Clemson defense this season.

Texas is ninth nationally in sacks with 38 and recorded six sacks on four occasions (Miss St., Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kentucky). Freshman edge Colin Simmons leads Texas with eight sacks, while sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill registered 4.5 sacks. Fourteen different players have a spot in the sack column.

The Longhorns are seventh nationally in tackles for loss, with 95 (for 402 yards lost). Texas is third nationally in interceptions, with 19 (San Jose St. and BYU each have 20), and it collected a season-high three against Georgia in October.

FIVE KEYS TO A CLEMSON WIN

1. Take care of the football. The Tigers are ranked fifth nationally in turnover margin (plus-16) with 25 takeaways against just nine turnovers. Texas is opportunistic on defense, but also lost 22 turnovers (the same as Clemson last season). Clemson is attempting to win the turnover margin for a sixth straight game. It would be Clemson’s first time winning the turnover margin in six straight contests since a nine-game streak in 2019.

2. Find the running game. Phil Mafah won’t be entirely healthy until he has surgery, but the Tigers still have to run the football enough to keep that dangerous Texas defense honest. To me, that means quarterback Cade Klubnik is going to have to be a huge part of the run game, along with those short throws that act as part of the run game.

3. Score points! That sounds simple, but the Tigers put up yards and plays against both Louisville and South Carolina but didn’t turn those into points.

4. Play complementary football for four quarters. The Tigers will have two good quarters out of the offense, and three good quarters out of the defense, or vice versa, and then it all goes hooey. Teams that should have been put away have crept back into games because of a conservative offense and a conservative defense.

5. Stop the Texas run game. As we’ve noted, Texas is prone to turning it over, and if the Tigers can stop the Longhorn rushing attack and make Ewers one-dimensional, the defense can stymie them enough to win the game.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

I was running through the keys to the game with a former player – one who wears a couple of big-time rings – and he told me, “Hope isn’t a gameplan.”

That’s the critical thing for me. Clemson needs to do things it hasn’t done this season – score points on a really good defense, stop a dominant rushing attack, and play four quarters of good football. It can happen. Clemson has a chance to stroll into Austin and steal one from the Longhorns, but it will take its best effort of the season.

I don’t see it happening. The Texas defense leads the way to a win.

FINAL SCORE: TEXAS 27, CLEMSON 17

TigerNet picks

David Hood – TigerNet senior writer – 27-17 Texas
Mickey Plyler – The Roar 105.5 morning show host – 31-17 Texas
Nikki Hood – Staff writer – 20-17 Clemson
Brandon Rink – Associate editor – 24-22 Clemson
Tony Crumpton – Associate editor – 24-23 Clemson
Ryan Kantor – Contributing Writer – 23-14 Texas
Ariana Pensy – Intern – 27-21 Texas
Merrell Mann – Photographer – 27-24 Clemson
Brooks Thomason – Intern – 30-10 Texas
Grayson Mann – Staff writer – 20-17 Texas

DADEVILLE, Ala. — No state has a longer, more profit-driven history of contracting prisoners out to private companies than Alabama. With a sprawling labor system that dates back more than 150 years — including the brutal convict leasing era that replaced slavery — it has constructed a template for the commercialization of mass incarceration.

Best Western, Bama Budweiser and Burger King are among the more than 500 businesses to lease incarcerated workers from one of the most violent, overcrowded and unruly prison systems in the U.S. in the past five years alone, The Associated Press found as part of a two-year investigation into prison labor. The cheap, reliable labor force has generated more than $250 million for the state since 2000 — money garnished from prisoners’ paychecks.

Here are highlights from the AP’s reporting:

Where are the jobs and what do they pay?

Most jobs are inside facilities, where the state’s inmates — who are disproportionately Black — can be sentenced to hard labor and forced to work for free doing everything from mopping floors to laundry. But in the past five years alone, more than 10,000 inmates have logged a combined 17 million work hours outside Alabama’s prison walls, for entities like city and county governments and businesses that range from major car-part manufacturers and meat-processing plants to distribution centers for major retailers like Walmart, the AP determined.

While those working at private companies can at least earn a little money, they face possible punishment if they refuse, from being denied family visits to being sent to high-security prisons, which are so dangerous that the federal government filed a lawsuit four years ago that remains pending, calling the treatment of prisoners unconstitutional.

Turning down work can jeopardize chances of early release in a state that last year granted parole to only 8% of eligible prisoners — an all-time low, and among the worst rates nationwide — though that number more than doubled this year after public outcry.

What is oversight like for the prisoners?

Unlike many states, those working among the civilian population include men and women with records for violent crimes like murder and assault. Many are serving 15 years or longer.

It’s not unusual for Alabama prisoners to work outside their facilities without any correctional oversight. And in some cases, there is no supervision of any kind, which has led to escapes, often referred to as “walkaways.”

Kelly Betts of the corrections department defended the work programs, calling them crucial to the success of inmates preparing to leave prison. But she acknowledged that even those sentenced to life without the possibility of parole are eligible for so-called work release jobs.

“Each inmate’s situation is unique, and each inmate is evaluated on his or her own record,” Betts said.

Most companies did not respond to requests for comment, Those that did said they had policies against the use of forced labor and prison labor and would investigate.

How much money does this involve?

As part of its investigation, the AP analyzed 20 years of Alabama corrections department monthly statistical reports to calculate the more than $250 million generated for the state since 2000 — money taken in via contracts with private companies and deductions taken out of prisoners’ paychecks.

Reporters also parsed information from more than 83,000 pages of data obtained through a public records request, including the names of inmates involved in Alabama’s work programs. Over the past five years, prisoners were hired by public employers — working at landfills and even the governor’s mansion — and by around at least 500 private companies. That information was cross-referenced with an online state database, detailing the crimes that landed people in prison, their sentences, time served, race and good-time credits earned and revoked.

What do prisoner advocates say?

Few prisoner advocates believe outside jobs should be abolished. In Alabama, for instance, those shifts can offer a reprieve from the excessive violence inside the state’s institutions. Last year, and in the first six months of 2024, an Alabama inmate died behind bars nearly every day, a rate five times the national average.

But advocates say incarcerated workers should be paid fair wages, given the choice to work without threat of punishment, and granted the same workplace rights and protections guaranteed to other Americans.

Prisoners nationwide cannot organize, protest or strike for better conditions. They also aren’t typically classified as employees, whether they’re working inside correctional facilities or for outside businesses through prison contracts or work release programs. And unless they are able to prove “willful negligence,” it is almost impossible to successfully sue when incarcerated workers are hurt or killed.

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AP data journalists Arushi Gupta and Larry Fenn contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Public Welfare Foundation for reporting focused on criminal justice. This story also was supported by Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights in conjunction with Arnold Ventures. The AP is solely responsible for all content.