Allegiant Air's Santa Maria-to-Portland Flight Remains on Hold

Jan. 24, 2022

Jan. 21—An Allegiant Air flight to Portland out of Santa Maria Airport that launched last year is on pause, which an airport official said is related to the travel period and the airline's seasonal scheduling.

The flight started in April 2021 out of Santa Maria with seasonal plans to operate in the spring and summer season, said Chris Hastert, the airport's manager.

Initially, the Santa Maria/ Portland flight was scheduled to run through August 2021, but the schedule was extended to Nov. 27, 2021, serving longer than expected.

"We're waiting to hear back from them to see if they plan on adding it back into the schedule for the following year as a seasonal flight," Hastert said. "They have to obviously look at how the different markets did and make a decision."

Hastert said that Santa Maria was a new market for the airline and Portland also was a new destination for Allegiant as well, adding the Oregon city as a new destination in a few other national locations around the same time it launched in Santa Maria.

"They'll be evaluating that and see if those (seasonal) dates still work well for Portland or not, and make adjustments," Hastert said.

Those seeking to fly out of Portland locally have an option to use Alaska Airlines, which has regular flights out of the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport.

Santa Maria Airport still has flights scheduled to Las Vegas and Mesa, Ariz. through Allegiant.

Latest on United's Santa Maria plans

A Santa Maria Airport plan to add United Airlines flights to destinations such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver, initially targeted for June 2020, has been put on hold due to COVID-19 pandemic impacts, Hastert said.

"We're staying in touch with United as well and hopefully that will come back when the timing is right, but honestly, business travel, which is primarily what we look at for United, just really isn't where it needs to be for us to be successful," Hastert said. "I would rather delay until the time is right, and start off right and have them be successful."

This story was originally published January 21, 2022 5:00 AM.

___

(c)2022 The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

Visit The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) at www.sanluisobispo.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.