San Luis Obispo Airport Hopes to Lure Delta

April 7, 2006
The airport is applying today to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a $250,000 "small commuter air service" grant to entice Delta to come.

San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport is working to add twice-daily service to Salt Lake City on Delta Air Lines, a move that would create one-stop flights to dozens of cities.

The airport is applying today to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a $250,000 "small commuter air service" grant to entice Delta to come here, airport manager Klaasje Nairne said.

A Delta spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny that the airline is considering service to San Luis Obispo.

Nairne said the airport is looking to give people more travel options. She said the local airport experiences 42 percent "leakage" — residents driving to other airports such as Los Angeles, San Jose or Santa Barbara instead of departing from San Luis Obispo.

If the airport wins the grant and persuades the airline to come here, the Delta Connection 50-seat regional jet service would go twice a day to Salt Lake City. From there, local passengers would be able to access other airports, making only the stop in Salt Lake City.

Local fliers currently have to make several changes, either of airports or carriers or both, to get to many eastern destinations, including stops at such hubs as Denver, Chicago or Dallas.

If Delta comes, 27 cities that are now available only through multiple transfers would be accessible through "one-stop shopping," Nairne said.

Some of the domestic airports that would receive connecting service via Salt Lake City are New York’s La Guardia Airport; Cincinnati; Fargo, N.D.; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Jackson and Casper, Wyo.; and Helena, Billings and Bozeman, Mont.

"Salt Lake gets you that much closer to (these) destinations, and, most importantly, the service provides additional options for our travelers," Nairne said. "Salt Lake is also a wonderful gateway to our neighbors to the north, Canada." Delta flies to Vancouver and Calgary.

Among the domestic airports now served by only one airline from San Luis Obispo that would receive new competitive one-stop connecting service via Salt Lake City are Detroit; Hartford, Conn.; Memphis, Tenn.; Minneapolis; Nashville, Tenn.; Pittsburgh; Tampa, Fla.; and Washington Reagan National.

Nairne said nearly 60 percent of San Luis Obispo’s passengers travel to or from markets east of Salt Lake City.

The grant money would go to marketing the new service, as well as startup costs, including ground crew and ticketing personnel, equipment and computers.

The county airport is served by three airlines. America West has three departures daily to Phoenix and one to Las Vegas; SkyWest/United Express has five to Los Angeles and four to San Francisco; and American Eagle has six to Los Angeles.

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