SAN ANTONIO — A new café at Stinson Airport is giving opportunities to young adults on the Southside of San Antonio. Xero Amaro grew up there, often attending air shows at Stinson Municipal Airport.

“I have a passion in aviation,” Amaro said. “I’ve loved planes ever since I was in elementary. I wanted to be a pilot ever since I was little.”

Now he works at the airport’s newest restaurant, Trailblazer Café. The name honors trailblazer Katherine Stinson, who was the fourth woman in the U.S. to get a pilot’s license.

“She was a trailblazer for women in aviation,” said Stephanie Smith, owner of the Trailblazer Café. “So we would love for our employees and our community to be their own trailblazer.”

Smith says her pilot husband Joshua dreamed of owning a café at an airport, providing entry-level jobs and giving young adults a unique "classroom" on an airfield.

“Opportunities here in the café where they can engage in the training that available through San Antonio’s Ready to Works,” said Joshua Smith, owner of Trailblazer Café. “It’s beyond just culinary and food service.”

According to the National Student Clearing House, since 2019 college undergraduate enrollment has dropped by 8%. The City of San Antonio has invested $200 million in the "Ready to Work" initiative.

“An airport is basically a city inside the city,” said Joshua Smith. “So all the jobs, trade and professions that you can imagine taking place in a city at large occur inside an airport.”

The Smiths are focused on helping their staff reach bigger goals. That includes Chastity Banda, who wants to run her own restaurant someday.

“The view is amazing, of course, all the planes,” Banda said. “Just really getting to see the community come in and enjoy the awesome food that I make.”

Even if that job training takes employees outside the café.

“Teaching me to work on my actual passion of automotive engines and restoring old cars,” Amaro said.

Amaro says he’s thankful to be working in his community as he pursues his auto tech training.

“To finally be able to work here at Stinson and really be around the planes all the time is honestly a blessing,” Amaro said.