SLO Airport Launches $13.5 Million Runway Rehab Project. How will Work Affect Flights?

Jul. 8—A $13.5 million runway improvement project at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport that began Thursday will affect some plane flight times for months, according to airport officials.

Due to overnight construction work, flights that depart from San Luis Obispo in the early morning or arrive at the airport at night have been rescheduled to accommodate passengers, said Craig Piper, the airport's deputy director.

The runway rehabilitation project, which runs through October, will feature work either from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. or 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., according an airport news release.

Schedules for United Airlines' Denver flight, which typically departs from San Luis Obispo at 5:20 a.m., and American Airlines' Phoenix flight, which normally arrives here after 9 p.m., have been adjusted due to construction.

Meanwhile, an American Airlines flight from Dallas that usually arrives in San Luis Obispo after 6 p.m. has bumped up its local arrival time to 5:58 p.m., Piper said.

The Phoenix, Dallas and Denver flights are all direct and occur daily between those cities and SLO.

Two 48-hour airport closures will take place on July 12 through 14 and Aug. 16 through 18.

"We've had extensive conversations with the airlines," Piper said. "Of course, everyone preferred we've had a much shorter window at nighttime. But unfortunately, we need to pave at night and it comes down to the cooler temperatures at night to be able to do this work."

SLO County airport project will upgrade worn runway

The San Luis Obispo airport project, paid for entirely by Federal Aviation Administration funds, will upgrade the main runway surface and its taxiway connectors, as well as its runway lighting system, which includes lights and directional signs, the release stated.

The runway rehabilitation project won't expand the runway or change any use of the property.

"It's been a while since we've been able to do much on a lot of the pavement," Piper said. "I've been here for 20-and-a-half years and there are sections of payment that we haven't done anything but a slurry seal on. So it is time to rebuild that, and so we're (laying asphalt) to re-fortify that and give us a good long life on the runway."

Piper said the project will be coordinated by the county of San Luis Obispo.

FAA funding is generated through a portion of passenger airline ticket payments, and the San Luis Obispo airport received approval for full federal funding of this project, Piper said.

Los Angeles flight expected to return in fall

Piper said a United Airlines flight from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles that was suspended in April 2020, amid heightened pandemic impacts, likely will return in the fall after runway upgrades are complete.

That depends on passenger demand and other considerations the airline will make, he added.

"There's a lot of business travelers going to L.A. and the feedback we're hearing is that we're anticipating seeing the Los Angeles route come back in the fall and that's going to be contingent on what the airlines are seeing for demand and the business travel," Piper said.

Piper said that, when summer ends and leisure travel declines, demand for business travel will be an important factor for airlines to consider.

He added that airport officials are "watching that closely."

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