Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (IATA: SBA, ICAO: KSBA, FAA LID: SBA) is a public airport 7 miles (11 km) west of downtown Santa Barbara, California, United States.
It is near the University of California, Santa Barbara and the city of Goleta. The airport was annexed to the city of Santa Barbara by a 7 miles (11 km) long, 300 feet (90 m) wide corridor, mostly under the Pacific Ocean (a shoestring annexation). Most of the airport is 10 to 15 feet above sea level and is bordered by the wetland area known as the Goleta Slough.
Three commercial airlines serve the airport as of January 2015 with non-stop flights to Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco by United Airlines; Portland and Seattle by Alaska Airlines; Phoenix and Dallas/Fort Worth by American Airlines. SBA has 21 daily commercial departures, and in 2013 more than 710,000 passengers used the airport.
There are two fix-based operators on the field, Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation, and three flight schools, Above All Aviation, Red Baron Aviation, and Spitfire Aviation.
In addition to regularly scheduled flights offered by other airlines, Surf Air operates service to Burbank and San Carlos in California using seven seat Pilatus PC-12 turboprops via a membership only, pay-as-you-fly program.
Private jets are used regularly by wealthy residents in Santa Barbara and nearby Montecito, California.
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History
Early years
Santa Barbara's aviation history began in 1914 when Lincoln J. Beachey flew an airplane across Goleta Valley. Two years later the Loughead brothers, who later changed their name to Lockheed, established a seaplane factory on State Street (Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company) and constructed a wooden ramp on West Beach to launch their planes. In 1928, Gordon Sackett and Royce Stetson landed a Hisso-powered airplane in a cow pasture near the corner of Hollister and Fairview Avenues and set up a flight school on the spot. That first airstrip marked the beginning of what was to become the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport.
As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield. Western General set up shop and began producing Meteor airplanes, while Santa Barbara Airways' founder Frederick Stearns II built two additional runways and two large hangars. Stearns also installed the first radio equipment at the airfield.
Airline flights began in 1932 on Pacific Seaboard Air Lines. In 1933, Pacific Seaboard was operating two daily round trip flights with single engine Bellanca CH-300 aircraft on an intrastate routing of Los Angeles - Santa Barbara - Santa Maria - San Luis Obispo - Paso Robles - Monterey - Salinas - San Jose - San Francisco. Pacific Seaboard would subsequently move its entire operation to the eastern U.S., be renamed Chicago and Southern Air Lines, become a large domestic and international airline and then in 1953 be acquired by and merged into Delta Air Lines thus providing Delta with its first international routes. United Airlines then inaugurated flights from Santa Barbara/Goleta in 1936. United would provide mainline passenger air service for many years at the airport.
As the prospect of war escalated the United States Government established a program to construct 250 airports across the country on a cost-sharing basis with local governments. Thomas M. Storke secured Santa Barbara's enrollment in the program, and in 1941 groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport.
With the outbreak of WWII the airport became MCAS Santa Barbara (Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara) in 1942, an aviator training base for the U.S Marines. It was expanded further with the addition of many hangars and other buildings, and reverted to a civilian airport in 1946.
The original Spanish-style terminal building, commissioned by United Airlines in 1942 was designed by William Edwards and Joseph Plunkett, an architectural team whose work, including the Arlington Theatre and the National Armory, helped shape the Mediterranean style of the city.
Postwar developments
In 1947 the Santa Barbara Flying Club was formed to promote general aviation in the region.
In the 1951 war film Flying Leathernecks, John Wayne's character was stationed in Goleta. The movie references the airbase as being in Goleta because, during World War II, the airbase had not yet been annexed by Santa Barbara. The movie has a short clip of the airport and surrounding area.
Three runways are in use: 7/25 and two parallel runways 15/33. The airport originally had an additional strip: runway 3/21. The development of the University of California, Santa Barbara (to the southwest) and the construction of hangars in support of production of the Aero Spacelines Super Guppy (to the northeast) were factors in the removal of this runway.
Southwest Airways and successors
Until 2002 Santa Barbara Airport was on a mainline jet route between San Francisco and Los Angeles operated by several airlines over the years. The airport was served by Southwest Airways Douglas DC-3s and Martin 4-0-4s and also by successors Pacific Air Lines, Air West and Hughes Airwest with Fairchild F-27s and Boeing 727-100, Douglas DC-9-10 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets. The Southwest March 1, 1947 timetable lists two round trip Douglas DC-3s flying Los Angeles-Oxnard-Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo-Coalinga-Monterey-Santa Cruz/Watsonville-San Jose-San Francisco. The first jets were Pacific Air Lines Boeing 727-100s in 1966; the January 4, 1967 timetable lists 727s on a routing of San Francisco-Monterey-Santa Barbara-Los Angeles. Air West served the airport with the B727-100s formerly operated by Pacific Air Lines while Hughes Airwest served Santa Barbara with Douglas DC-9-10s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s.
United
The United Airlines system timetable dated February 1, 1937 listed daily round trip service flown with a Douglas DC-3 twin prop aircraft on a routing of Los Angeles-Santa Barbara-San Francisco-Oakland. By 1972, the United timetable listed direct, no change of plane Boeing 727-100 jet service to New York Newark (EWR) via stops at LAX and Milwaukee (MKE). The primary jet routes initially flown by United from Santa Barbara were nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco with some flights then continuing on to other destinations. The first nonstop flights beyond California from SBA were flown by United with Boeing 727s to Denver in 1979 and to Chicago O'Hare in 1980. Over the years, United operated Boeing 727-100, 727-200, 737-200 and 737-300 jetliners into Santa Barbara. United ceased mainline jet service to SBA in 1990. Shuttle by United, a division of United Airlines (later renamed United Shuttle) operated mainline Boeing 737-300s and 737-500s to San Francisco in the 1990s and early 2000s. United then turned all service over to SkyWest Airlines which currently operates as United Express. Service was originally on Embraer 120 aircraft to SFO and LAX and CRJ200 to Denver. This was later turned over to a mix of CRJ200, CRJ700, and E175 aircraft all operated by SkyWest Airlines. On June 8, 2017, United resumed mainline service on 1 frequency each to Denver and San Francisco, utilizing Airbus A319 and Airbus A320 aircraft with a 2nd frequency to SFO being upgauged in November.
American
American Airlines first started service with McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliners to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) in 1984, with some of these flights operating a triangle routing of DFW-Burbank-SBA-DFW or DFW-Bakersfield-SBA-DFW. American also operated direct MD-80 one stop service to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) via Ontario (ONT). After American Airlines dropped mainline service to SBA, American Eagle Airlines, a wholly owned regional affiliate of American, began flying Saab 340B turboprops and later Embraer ERJ-140 regional jets between SBA and LAX. American Eagle also operated Canadair CRJ-700s between SBA and DFW until it ended this nonstop service in April 2009. The airline continued to provide SBA-LAX service until November 14, 2012 at which time SkyWest Airlines operating as American Eagle took over with Canadair CRJ-200 regional jet flights. American Eagle subsequently suspended its only remaining Santa Barbara service to Los Angeles on March 31, 2014 thus ending American Airlines service at the airport. With the merger of US Airways and American completed, American Airlines then returned to SBA with nonstop American Eagle regional jet service to Phoenix. In June 2016, American Eagle relaunched nonstop service to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) with Canadair CRJ-900 aircraft operated by Mesa Airlines. On April 4, 2017, American Airlines resumed mainline service to DFW on a seasonal basis utilizing an Airbus A319. This will be the first mainline service since 2015 when Frontier Airlines ceased flying to Santa Barbara.
Alaska
Alaska Airlines never served Santa Barbara directly with mainline aircraft, but has had various regional affiliates fly routes over the last decade. Alaska-owned regional airline Horizon Air was the first Alaska affiliate to connect SBA with Seattle and Portland, flying Canadair CRJ-700 series regional jets. From 2008 to 2010, Horizon also connected Santa Barbara non-stop to Sacramento with continuing direct, no change of plane service to the Portland and/or Seattle. In 2011, Skywest Airlines took over the Horizon Canadair CRJ-700 jets and then later replaced them with Embraer E175 regional jets, replacing Horizon for all Alaska-branded flying into Santa Barbara and continues to operate flights via a capacity purchase agreement with Alaska Airlines connecting SBA with the Pacific Northwest. Beginning June 15, 2017 and ending August 26, 2017, Horizon will return to Santa Barbara by taking over the Seattle route from SkyWest with its own Embraer E175 regional jets. Beginning August 27, 2017, Alaska Airlines will begin mainline service to Santa Barbara for the first time when it takes over the Seattle route from Horizon with its own Boeing 737 jets.
Locally based commuter airlines
In the 1980s Santa Barbara-based Apollo Airways, a commuter airline which subsequently changed its name to Pacific Coast Airlines, flew Handley Page HP.137 Jetstream propjets from the airport with nonstop service to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Jose, CA, Monterey, Fresno and Bakersfield with direct flights to Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Another locally based airline was Connectair operating Fairchild F-27J turboprops with nonstop flights to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Jose, CA. Both air carriers are no longer in existence.
Other airlines operating jet service in the past
Until January 2015, the current version of Frontier Airlines was operating nonstop service between SBA and Denver with Airbus A319 aircraft. Frontier suspended service to Santa Barbara on January 6, 2015. Besides American and United, other airlines operating jets from SBA included Pacific Air Lines with Boeing 727-100s to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Monterey, Continental Airlines with nonstop Boeing 737-300s to Denver, Air West (later renamed Hughes Airwest by owner Howard Hughes) with Boeing 727-100s as well as Douglas DC-9-10s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s to Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities, Allegiant Air with McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to Las Vegas, Pacific Express with British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Elevens to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Bakersfield, Air Wisconsin (flying as United Express) with British Aerospace BAe 146-200 and BAe 146-300s to Denver, and ExpressJet operating independently and flying Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets nonstop to Sacramento and San Diego.
Other past commuter airline service
A number of commuter air carriers served Santa Barbara over the years primarily with turboprop aircraft. In 1968, Cable Commuter Airlines was operating de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter service to LAX. Cable Commuter was then acquired by Golden West Airlines which in turn began operating high frequency shuttle service to LAX with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 and Short 330 aircraft. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), by 1981 Golden West was the only airline operating scheduled service between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles with fourteen round trip flights on weekdays. Other commuter air carriers that served SBA with turboprop aircraft in later years included America West Express, American Eagle operated by Wings West, Dash Air, Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines, Imperial Airlines, Sun Aire Lines, United Express operated by West Air and later by SkyWest Airlines, USAir Express and successor US Airways Express operated by Trans States Airlines and StatesWest Airlines. According to the OAG, turboprop aircraft operated into SBA by these commuter airlines included the Beechcraft 1900C, British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31, de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8, Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante, Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia, Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (Metro II and Metro III models), Saab 340B and Short 360. In addition, Air Resorts operated Convair 440 prop aircraft on flights to LAX in 1983.
Current air service
With the suspension of Frontier Airlines Airbus A319 service to Denver in January 2015, all commercial airlines operating out of Santa Barbara had regional airline affiliates flying smaller regional jet aircraft. American Eagle flights to Phoenix are operated with Mesa Airlines Canadair CRJ-900s. In June 2016, American Eagle relaunched service to Dallas-Fort Worth with Canadair CRJ-900 aircraft and American Airlines took over the route on an Airbus A319 jet. Additional mainline service returned to the airport in the Summer of 2017 when United Airlines began service to Denver and San Francisco utilizing Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft on select flights June 8, 2017. United Express flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Denver operated by SkyWest use Canadair CRJ-200s, Canadair CRJ-700s and Embraer E175s. SkyWest Airlines operated Embraer E175s flying as Alaska Airlines nonstop to Seattle and Portland, but Horizon Air took over the Seattle route with their E175. Alaska Airlines will take over the Seattle route on a Boeing 737 beginning August 27, 2017 and Horizon Air will take over the Portland route with a Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 on November 5, 2017.
New terminal
On August 18, 2011 the airport opened a new 72,000 square foot terminal to add to the single story terminal built by United Airlines in 1942. The new facility was built next to the existing terminal and cost approximately $63 million. Additions to the historic terminal made in 1967 and 1976 were removed and the original building was restored. It then was raised to meet modern flood plain regulations and moved and incorporated into the new terminal. The aircraft parking ramp was redesigned and a new loop road and short term parking lot were constructed. The new terminal building features many environmentally sustainable elements and is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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