San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport


San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, McChesney Field is a civil airport near San Luis Obispo, California. Four passenger airlines serve the airport with flights to nine cities: Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. The airport was established in 1939 and used by the U.S. military between 1939 and 1945.

History

In 1933 Pacific Seaboard Air Lines single engine Bellanca CH-300s flew twice daily each way Los Angeles - Santa Barbara - Santa Maria - San Luis Obispo - Paso Robles - Monterey - Salinas - San Jose - San Francisco. Pacific Seaboard later moved its operation to the eastern U.S., was renamed Chicago and Southern Air Lines, and became a large domestic and international airline that in 1953 was acquired by and merged into Delta Air Lines.
Earl Thomson, along with his brothers-in-law, William "Chris" and David Hoover, talked county officials into leasing them the land for an airport. By April 1939 it opened with an hangar and dirt runways.
During World War II the federal government took over the airport: From 1938 until 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps and the California National Guard used 218 acres as an aerial observation training center; In 1940 the War Department added hard surface runways and lights, barracks, hangars, and mechanic shops. In 1940 and 1941, 183 private pilots and 20 advanced students were trained here though a federally sponsored Civilian Pilot Training Program for armed services fliers. In 1943, the Navy began using the airport as a training center for the Pacific Fleet.
The federal government turned the airport back to the county in 1946. Southwest Airways started passenger flights with Douglas DC-3s that year.
Southwest's flights to San Luis Obispo ended in 1956 when the airline moved to Paso Robles Municipal Airport in northern San Luis Obispo County due to the 4000-ft runway at San Luis Obispo being too short for larger aircraft such as the Martin 4-0-4 and Fairchild F-27. Pacific Air Lines, Air West and Hughes Airwest, successors to Southwest Airways, listed San Luis Obispo in their timetables but actually served Paso Robles with F-27s until 1974.
In 1947 county supervisors contracted for another hangar, ramp, and eventually an administration building. The supervisors named Chris Hoover full-time airport manager in 1953.
San Luis Obispo Airport had no scheduled airline service from 1956 until 1969 when locally-based Swift Aire Lines began scheduled flights with Piper Navajos. Swift Aire's headquarters were at San Luis Obispo; it eventually operated Fokker F27 Friendships bought new from Fokker as well as Nord 262s and de Havilland Herons.
In 1975, after ending service to Paso Robles the year before, Hughes Airwest was operating McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s to nearby Santa Maria Public Airport to serve the San Luis Obispo area; these nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco soon ended.
After the 1981 demise of Swift Aire after a merger with Golden Gate Airlines, Wings West Airlines established its headquarters in San Luis Obispo and flew several turboprop types, as an independent commuter carrier and then as American Eagle on behalf of American Airlines via a code sharing agreement. Propjets flown by Wings West to San Luis Obispo included the British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and Jetstream 32, the Beechcraft C99, the Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner and the Saab 340.
In 1987 the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport was dedicated as McChesney Field, in honor of Leroy E. McChesney for his leadership and dedication to aviation. McChesney lived in the county since 1920 and had been a pilot since 1949. He was a longtime member of the California Aviation Council, a member of the California Aeronautics Board, and the Grand Marshal of the first Airport Day in 1984.
In 1988 a Federal Aviation Administration control tower opened and SkyWest Airlines, WestAir operating as United Express and Wings West were flying commuter turboprops, WestAir operating the Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante and later the BAe Jetstream 31.
Several other commuter airlines served San Luis Obispo with turboprop flights to Los Angeles including Delta Connection service by SkyWest with Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners and Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias, Imperial Airlines with Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirantes, Mesa Airlines flying as United Express with Beechcraft 1900Cs and USAir Express operated by Trans States Airlines with BAe Jetstream 32s. As of 1996 only American Eagle and United Express remained, Delta Connection and US Air Express having left the year prior.
America West Express began flying de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8s to Phoenix in April 1999. Within a few years they had expanded to Las Vegas, and became the first airline to operate jets to the airport with the CRJ-200. The Las Vegas route was dropped shortly after the US Airways/America West merger.
In 2007 Delta Connection returned to San Luis Obispo, flying a CRJ-200 to Salt Lake City. The route ended in 2008. American Eagle left the airport in November 2008 as they retired their Saab 340s as part of a 12% reduction in services, and closed its base at the airport.
On August 27, 2008 US Airways Express flown by Mesa Airlines announced an expansion of service at San Luis Obispo. Beginning October 2, 2008 the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet 900 replaced the smaller CRJ-200 on the Phoenix flights with 36 more seats on these twice-daily flights, and continues today as American Eagle service. SkyWest now has Canadair CRJ-200s on most nonstops to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver, but will change to the larger ERJ-175 for one daily flight each to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and all flights to Denver. Allegiant Air considered the airport for a daily nonstop McDonnell Douglas MD-80 to Las Vegas, but the short runway at the time at SBP resulted in their service being operated from the Santa Maria Airport
In January 2009 a charter Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-400 arrived at SBP from Chico and was the largest aircraft ever to land at San Luis. The flight carried 125 members of the San Francisco Symphony arriving to perform at Cal Poly's Performing Arts Center. From April 1 to the 4th, 2009 charter Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-700s, Frontier Airlines Airbus A319s, and Southwest Airlines Boeing 737s arrived at San Luis Obispo County carrying Oregon National Guard military troops. The A319 was the largest aircraft to have ever landed at San Luis Obispo. Currently, there are no military charter operations at San Luis Obispo, however C-130 Hercules aircraft do occasionally stop at the airport. Allegiant Airlines provides charters from the airport for the Cal Poly Football team.
In October 2015 ground was broken on a new passenger terminal; it was expected that increases in the regional population and tourism would attract more service to the airport.
On April 13, 2017, Alaska Airlines began a daily Embraer ERJ-175 jet service to Seattle.
On December 13, 2018, American Airlines announced daily flights to Dallas/Fort Worth which began on April 2, 2019. The flights use American Eagle CRJ-700s and Embraer E-175s.
On June 26, 2019, Contour Airlines announced flights to Las Vegas which began October 17th, 2019 with Embraer ERJ-135s.
On September 4, 2019, Alaska Airlines announced daily flights with the ERJ-175 to Portland, Oregon, and San Diego which began January 7th, 2020.

Environmental contamination

In 2015, the airport was suspected as a possible source of trichloroethylene or TCE, which was found in nearby water wells. However, ordered by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and conducted by a third-party engineering firm found that the airport was not the source of contamination. Water Board staff oversaw the county's field investigation activities. An estimated 48 residents had already filed claims against the county for negligence, even though the investigation concluded that the San Luis Obispo Regional Airport is not the source.
In 2019, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board confirmed that the source of TCE contamination in the Buckley Road Area was emanating from 4665 Thread Lane, which is located across Buckley Road from the airport

Facilities

The airport covers and has two runways:
A new passenger terminal replaced the older, smaller facility towards the north end of the airfield. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on October 8, 2015, and opened on November 1, 2017. The new terminal features modern check-in counters and security screening, a pet relief area in a central courtyard, a post-security food stand, multiple gates with waiting areas, and two all-glass jet bridges in addition to the ground level gates. Artwork in the lobby includes tail sections and an engine nacelle from a Boeing 747. The airport is designed to accommodate up to 1.2 million passengers per year, well above the 450,000 seen by the airport at the time of construction.
The airport also has the Spirit of San Luis Restaurant, in the original terminal from the 1950s. It has outdoor seating for patrons to watch planes take off and land, and is popular with private pilots to "Fly In" for lunch.
The 1980s built terminal covers 16,000 square feet, and sits vacant with no current plans for redevelopment.
There are numerous parking spots for general aviation aircraft, and multiple FBOs, including Air San Luis and ACI Jet Center, as well as aircraft rentals and flight schools.

Airlines and destinations

Destinations

Destinations map

On July 17, 2013, US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines resumed Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet 900 service to San Luis Obispo from Phoenix. These flights are now operated as American Eagle by Mesa Airlines with all flights to Phoenix featuring Canadair CRJ-900 and CRJ-700 regional jets. American Eagle offers four daily flights to between San Luis Obispo Airport and Phoenix.
On April 7, 2015, SkyWest Airlines operating as United Express began flying Canadair CRJ-200s on all flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco, replacing Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias as they moved the type into retirement, so all scheduled passenger airline flights at San Luis Obispo are now operated with regional jets for the first time. The daily flights to Denver, as well as two of the flights to Los Angeles and one flight to San Francisco, will be operated with Embraer 175s beginning April 9, 2018, promising more comfort and higher capacity.
Alaska Airlines announced new nonstop service between Seattle and San Luis Obispo which began on April 13, 2017 and was originally flown by SkyWest Airlines with Embraer 175s. Alaska Airlines subsidiary Horizon Air took over this code share service on June 9, 2017. In September 2019, the airline announced plans to fly nonstop service to San Diego beginning January 7, 2020 and to Portland, OR beginning June 18, 2020.
Delta briefly operated a CRJ-200 between San Luis Obispo and Salt Lake City International Airport between 2007 and 2008, until shelving the flights due to the recession.
With the terminal upgrades, it is now theoretically possible to operate mainline aircraft into the airport such as the Airbus A319 or Boeing 717 which would allow higher capacity flights to destinations like Denver, Phoenix, or Seattle, or longer flights to destinations such as Houston or Chicago, but the runway is not long enough for these aircraft at MTOW.

Top destinations

Annual traffic

Cargo

The airport is located along Broad Street at Aero Drive, southeast of Downtown San Luis Obispo. Parking is available across four parking lots within walking distance of the terminal. Parking is charged either hourly or daily; there are no separate long-term, short-term, or economy parking lots like many other major airports.
SLO Transit is the public transportation system that serves the airport. Taxis, Lyft, and Uber also provide service.

Accidents