{"id":335226,"date":"2025-10-27T03:38:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T03:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/335226\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T03:38:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T03:38:24","slug":"as-phoenix-flights-take-off-smx-looks-to-boost-marketing-local-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/335226\/","title":{"rendered":"As Phoenix Flights Take Off, SMX Looks to Boost Marketing | Local News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A years-long campaign to land daily passenger airline service for the Santa Maria Public Airport <\/a>may have been the easy part.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, passengers need to fill the planes traveling to and from Phoenix to ensure the route remains as Santa Maria airport leaders look to boost marketing efforts.<\/p>\n

The twice daily American Airlines <\/a>flights, operated by SkyWest Airlines<\/a>, between Santa Maria and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport<\/a> began Oct. 15 amid hoopla with receptions held at both locations, a Santa Maria Fire Department water cannon shooting over the regional jet, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The campaign since the start of the service included Ignacio \u201cNash\u201d Moreno, airport board president, speaking at the Santa Maria City Council <\/a>meeting Tuesday about the airport\u2019s transformation including flights to Phoenix and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, that includes Mexico. And yes, it is similar in price to San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara (airports), but we have free parking,\u201d Moreno said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Along with convenience due to proximity, Santa Maria airport leaders have long touted the\u00a0 free parking to attract passengers, noting neighboring airports\u2019 parking fees add to travel expenses. Long-term rates are $21 at the Santa Barbara Airport and $25 for the San Luis Obispo Airport. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\tSanta Maria Mayor Alice Patino asks who would be taking the inaugural flight to Phoenix as Suzanne Singh from the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce and Tony Guy from the Santa Maria Public Airport board raise their hands. Credit: Janene Scully \/ Noozhawk photo
\nAmerican Airlines Touts Return<\/p>\n

American Airlines <\/a>announced during the summer plans to add flights between Santa Maria and Phoenix, the result of Santa Maria officials\u2019 never-ending recruitment efforts.<\/p>\n

SkyWest, which is based in St. George, Utah, is operating the flights under a codeshare, or marketing, arrangement with American Airlines.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\tA cake with an airplane tail touts the new Santa Maria-Phoenix flights. Credit: Janene Scully \/ Noozhawk photo<\/p>\n

A cake with the fondant tail of an airplane along with T-shirts awaited the Oct. 15 celebration in what typically had been a mostly empty terminal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow from Santa Maria, you can get to an international airport and you can go anywhere in the world. This is a major feat. This is huge for northern Santa Barbara County, for the city of Santa Maria, for the Santa Maria Valley\u2026,\u201d said Tony Guy, airport board member.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I would ask you all please support our airport\u2026 . Please use our airport as your first choice when you have to fly outside this region. It\u2019s needed, and that\u2019s the only way we\u2019re going to keep and retain the service here,\u201d Guy added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have wanted it in Santa Maria for a long time, and now it\u2019s here,\u201d Mayor Alice Patino added.<\/p>\n

Daily air service returned to the Santa Maria airport after nine years where airport leaders visited airlines to lure them to launch service at SMX.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\tT-shirts touting the inaugural flights between Santa Maria and Phoenix were handed out Oct. 15. Credit: Janene Scully \/ Noozhawk photo<\/p>\n

In January 2020, community leaders excitedly gathered to herald the announcement United Airlines would return, offering flights to three destinations.\u00a0But the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent airline industry struggles grounded the plan.<\/p>\n

Until the new service started, Santa Maria\u2019s airport only saw a couple of Allegiant Airlines flights to and from Las Vegas each week.<\/p>\n

While Santa Maria has struggled to attract air service, neighboring airports\u00a0 \u2014 both serving county seats and university towns \u2014\u00a0have seen increased flights with seemingly little angst. For instance, the Santa Barbara Airport last week touted the start of at least two new routes \u2014 Chicago and San Diego.<\/p>\n

SMX Offers Incentives to Airlines\u00a0<\/p>\n

To help attract additional airlines and routes, Santa Maria\u2019s airport provides a special incentive package topping $2.6 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This includes revenue guarantees of $2 million, essentially pledging to cover a certain number of empty seats in flights while the new route ramps up.<\/p>\n

The airport district deal includes $250,000 in startup costs, $175,000 in marketing support for the first year and another $75,000 for the second year\u2019s marketing. Another $50,000 is budgeted annually for the airport including print, television, radio and digital advertising campaigns.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the airport waives rental and other fees for two years, saving an airline about $100,000.<\/p>\n

But, a consultant recently expressed disappointment about \u201cone of the poorest inaugural campaigns ever kicked off,\u201d board member Guy said during Thursday\u2019s meeting .<\/p>\n

The first flight reportedly had a load capacity (or seats filled) of 25% and the consultant projected the load capacity of 40% for November, both of which will cost the airport district.<\/p>\n

Airlines reportedly need 60% of the seats filled to break even and higher to offset other expenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe kind of projected out how quickly we could fizzle out if we didn\u2019t make some\u00a0changes rather rapidly,\u201d Guy said, adding the admonishment \u201cwas a very fair depiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to do more,\u201d Guy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\tA SkyWest Airlines jet (operating for American Airlines) arrives at the Santa Maria Public Airport on Oct. 15 to begin daily service to and from Phoenix. Credit: Janene Scully \/ Noozhawk photo<\/p>\n

Airport board members said they want to boost the advertising budget and agreed to convene the panel\u2019s marketing subcommittee soon to address the issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to double the radio and the TV (ads) right away,\u201d board member Michael Clayton said, adding \u201cthere\u2019s not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new service may be a victim of a distracted society getting information in multiple ways thanks to today\u2019s social media, digital streaming services and other methods. <\/p>\n

Guy said he\u2019s surprised to learn people are unaware of the new services.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take every opportunity I can in the community to tell as many people as possible,\u201d Guy added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Helping spread the word, airport officials will participate in an EconAlliance forum focused on tourism next month in Buellton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be the Santa Ynez Valley\u2019s and Santa Maria Valley\u2019s airport of choice when it comes to tourism,\u201d Airport General Manager Martin Pehl said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\tWorkers prepare for the arrival of the SkyWest Airlines plane to launch new services between Santa Maria and Phoenix. Credit: Janene Scully \/ Noozhawk photo<\/p>\n

Success for the Phoenix flights isn\u2019t just important for keeping the American Airlines connection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other airlines will be watching to determine whether to launch new service from Santa Maria to different destinations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best advertising I think we can have is word of mouth and people happy with the experience,\u201d Pehl said.<\/p>\n

\"\"American Airlines now serves the Santa Maria Public Airport along with Allegiant Air. American provides daily trips between Santa Maria and Phoenix while Allegiant flies between Santa Maria and Las Vegas a few times a week. Credit: Janene Scully \/ Noozhawk photo\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\tA SkyWest Airlines jet (operating for American Airlines) arrives at the Santa Maria Public Airport on Oct. 15 to begin daily service to and from Phoenix. Credit: Janene Scully \/ Noozhawk photo\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A years-long campaign to land daily passenger airline service for the Santa Maria Public Airport may have been…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":335227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,728,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-335226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-phoenix","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115444050849461096","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}