The airport was built by the United States Army during World War II, known as Santa Maria Army Air Field. Its primary mission was to provide training for B-24 bomber pilots, however flight training was abandoned by December 1942. The field fell into a state of disuse until the arrival of the Lockheed P-38 twin engine fighter in September 1943. During its use by the military Santa Maria AAF also controlled Estrella Army Airfield, near Paso Robles as an auxiliary airfield to support the pilot training activity. After the warSanta Barbara County and the city of Santa Maria acquired the land and facilities through two grants in 1948. In 1964 the Army Air Field was renamed Santa Maria Public Airport. In 2020, the airport was again used for training by a fleet of military jets while Naval Air Station Point Mugu was performing maintenance. The fleet consisted of six 1960 British Strike Fighter jets and two 1970 Israeli Interceptor jets.
Past airline service
The first airline at Santa Maria was Pacific Seaboard Air Lines. In 1933 Pacific Seaboard scheduled two daily Bellanca CH-300s Los Angeles - Santa Barbara - Santa Maria - San Luis Obispo - Paso Robles - Monterey - Salinas - San Jose - San Francisco. Pacific Seaboard would moved its entire operation to the eastern U.S., be renamed Chicago and Southern Air Lines, and in 1953 was acquired by and merged into Delta Air Lines. Southwest Airways Douglas DC-3s began service during the 1940s. The June 1, 1947 timetable lists three daily round trips Los Angeles-Oxnard-Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo-Coalinga-Monterey-Santa Cruz/Watsonville-San Jose/Moffett Field-San Francisco. Southwest changed its name to Pacific Air Lines and operated Martin 4-0-4s and Fairchild F-27s to Santa Maria in the 1960s. Pacific merged with Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West, which became Hughes Airwest, which served Santa Maria with McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s and Fairchild F-27s. The October 26, 1975 Hughes Airwest timetable listed DC-9 nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco and nonstop F-27s to LAX. This was the only time Santa Maria had nonstop mainline jets to LAX and SFO at the same time; DC-9 flights ended in a few months and Hughes Airwest F-27 flights to Santa Maria ended in 1979. A number of commuter airlines served the airport. In 1968 Cable Commuter Airlines was flying de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters to LAX. At one point in the early 1980s Swift Aire Lines, based at nearby San Luis Obispo Airport, was the only airline flying nonstop between Santa Maria and Los Angeles, mainly with new Fokker F27 Friendships. Swift Aire also operated Nord 262s and de Havilland Herons to the airport. Other commuter airlines included Sun Aire Lines with Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners, Santa Barbara-based Apollo Airways flying Handley Page HP.137 Jetstreams, Wings West Airlines operating as American Eagle with Beechcraft C99s, Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners, BAe Jetstream 31s, and Saab 340s, West Air flying as United Express with BAe Jetstream 31s and Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirantes and Mesa Air also operating as United Express with Beechcraft 1900Cs.
Facilities
The airport covers and has two asphalt runways: 12/30, 8,004 x 150 ft and 2/20, 5,189 x 75 ft. In 2007 the airport had 62,480 aircraft operations, average 171 per day: 79% general aviation, 19% air taxi, 2% military and <1% airline. 243 aircraft are based at the airport: 83% single-engine, 7% multi-engine, 6% helicopter, 3% jet, <1% glider and <1% ultralight.
Current and recent past airline service
A runway extension opened on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft. to 8,004 ft. Allegiant Air flies Airbus A319s nonstop to Las Vegas, four per week each way. In 2012 Allegiant Air briefly operated weekly Boeing 757-200s Santa Maria to Honolulu. A baggage claim facility opened in 2007. It was one of the first airports on the Central Coast to use a state of the artbaggage carousel, on a small scale. A new terminal holding room opened in February 2008. The old area had room for 30 passengers. Designed for the Allegiant Air flights, the new holding room accommodates 200 passengers and has room for a cafe. SkyWest Airlines, operating as United Express, flew Bombardier CRJ-200s nonstop to San Francisco, a hub for United. Skywest began flights to Santa Maria in 1984 when it acquired Sun Aire Lines. SkyWest began flying as Delta Connection from SMX in the late 1980s via a code sharing agreement with Delta Air Lines operating Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners before becoming a United Express carrier. SkyWest had previously operated United Express service nonstop to Los Angeles with Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias; flights to LAX were discontinued in favor of nonstop Canadair regional jets to SFO for United. SkyWest operating as United Express ceased operations at Santa Maria from 2015 until June 4, 2020, when they were scheduled to resume operations with flights to Los Angeles, Denver, and San Francisco with CRJ-200 aircraft. Mokulele Airlines Cessna 208 Caravans replaced the SkyWest/United Express service to Los Angeles. In 2016, Mokulele moved its flights to the Los Angeles area to Burbank and dropped Santa Maria on November 30, 2017. The extended runway at Santa Maria is paved to 8,004 feet, giving the airport the longest civil runway between Los Angeles and San Jose on the central coast and Vandenberg AFB's runway.
Usage
November 2007 to October 2008: 56,553 passengers, 53,294 passengers, total 109,847 passengers. November 2008 to October 2009, 48,117 passengers, 37,570 passengers, total 85,687 passengers. SkyWest operating as United Express has since ceased all service into Santa Maria.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Destinations map
Cargo
Ground transportation
The airport is located south of Santa Maria along Skyway Drive at Terminal Drive. Both US 101 and State Route 135 can be reached from the airport by heading north on Skyway Drive and then turning east onto Betteravia Road. Short and long-term parking is available, but passenger vehicles left more than 14 days must obtain prior approval by the Airport Administration. The airport is served by Santa Maria Area Transit routes 4 and the Breeze, the Santa Maria Cab Company, Lyft, Uber, and other local services.
Allan Hancock Field
The original Allan Hancock Field was established in 1927 at another location, between Jones Street to the north, Stowell Road to the south, Bradley Road to the east and Miller Street to the west. The airport housed the Allan Hancock College of Aeronautics operated by the Hancock Foundation of Aeronautics. Before World War II, it was one of eight civil training military aviation cadets. After the war the field was used by the University of Southern California for their four-year Aeronautics Degree program. In 1958 a bond was passed allowing Santa Maria Junior College to purchase the land, much of which would become the campus of what is now known as Allan Hancock College. The name of the original Santa Maria Airport and Hancock's name then transferred to the other, now public airport in town.
