The airport, known as the gateway to Silicon Valley, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year using strategically placed toy and inflatable chickens.

According to officials, baby chickens were the first “passengers” to be offloaded at the airport.

When the airport opened to commercial service on February 1, 1949, the first arriving flight was a DC-3 operated by Southwest Airways (which evolved into Delta Air Lines) carrying seven humans and 2,550 baby chicks. The humans continued on to Los Angeles, and the chicks were dropped off in San Jose.

To celebrate the event, airport officials have installed multiple baby chick displays, including a 10-foot-tall inflatable in the Terminal B baggage claim area. Other poultry-inspired decorations around the facility include over 1,000 baby chicken window clings and four 7-foot-tall standees throughout the terminals. 

Visitors are encouraged to take photos with any of the baby chicken displays and share them on social media using the hashtags  #sjc75 and #PicWithABabyChick for a chance to win an exclusive commemorative 75-year anniversary swag pack.

“I’m excited to be joining [KSJC] in the midst of commemorating a significant milestone in the airport’s history,” said Mukesh “Mookie” Patel, the airport’s director of aviation. “We’ve come a long way from welcoming 2,550 baby chickens on opening day to more than 12 million humans last year, but we’re as focused as ever on delivering the same convenient and reliable airport experience that city leaders set out to do in 1949.”

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