Santa Maria airport taking flight

March 22, 2004

Local airport taking flight 
Santa Maria Times, CA


Officials at Santa Maria Public Airport have been
fighting an uphill battle for years to get more
airlines and flights in and out of the valley. Now
maybe the hill is leveling off a little. 

Figures for passengers coming and going at the airport
are up significantly in the last quarter. According to
figures reported last week by United Express, the only
commercial line using the local airport, the number of
passengers showed a respectable rise of 8 percent in
November 2003, compared with the same month a year
earlier. 
 
And things just kept getting better. Passenger use was
up 16 percent in December 2003 over 2002, and a
whopping 25 percent this January over January 2003.
Flying fever leveled off a bit in February, with just
a 20 percent increase over February of last year. 

We say "just" as if a 20 percent increase isn't
meaningful - but it certainly is. 

For one thing, the dramatic increase in the number of
passengers using the local airport sends a clear
message to competing commercial carriers that the
Santa Maria and Lompoc valleys are important new
markets for other airlines to tap into. If United
Express can show such impressive results in just a few
months, decision makers at other airlines have to
recognize the potential opportunity this growing area
presents. 

The airport's staff members and its governing board
arrived at this point through diligence, hard work and
a little cold, hard cash from the federal government,
in the form of a $217,530 Community Air Service
Enhancement program grant. The money helped produce a
promotional video that has been running on local TV
for months, touting the airport's amenities and
location, and generally selling the public on using
the local airport for out-of-town getaways or business
trips. 

Selling the public is a crucial step in building the
airport's prestige, and thus heightening its appeal to
other airlines. As it is now, with just one carrier
serving the area, travelers often drive to San Luis
Obispo, Santa Barbara or beyond to get the flights and
connections they need. 

The impressive increase in passengers in the past four
months is just the beginning of a brighter future for
the Santa Maria Public Airport. Now it looks like the
sky is the limit. 


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************