New airline takes flight next month

ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

After years of clamoring from the local community, the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport will soon offer nonstop flights to Sacramento and San Diego through a new carrier called ExpressJet Airlines.
Airport officials touted the twice-daily flights that will start up in early November and offered tours of an ExpressJet plane yesterday morning.

"Today is a particularly exciting day for the community," Airport Director Karen Ramsdell said. "ExpressJet offers service to two destinations that haven't been offered for many years."
Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum and Third District Supervisor Brooks Firestone attended the event, held in the terminal courtyard, and expressed pleasure that the airport will connect Santa Barbara to the state capitol.
"Sacramento and San Diego have been asked for and asked for," Mayor Blum said, adding, "Sometimes the telephones don't work so well, so we have to go up there."
Firestone said he was surprised State Assemblyman Pedro Nava didn't show up, since he often has to travel between Santa Barbara and Sacramento. He commended the airport for adding the direct service, saying, "This is going to be a great thing for the county."
UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry T. Yang said faculty, staff, students and visitors use the airport frequently and the new flights will give them more options.
“I travel to Sacramento on university business quite regularly,” Chancellor Yang said in an e-mail. “The direct flight to Sacramento will save me quite a bit of time.”
Airport officials said Skywest Airlines used to offer direct flights to Sacramento, but stopped about 10 years ago. Talks started up with ExpressJet earlier this year, Airport Marketing Director Terri Gibson said.
"It's a wonderful point-to-point airline that we haven't had for at least a decade," Gibson said. "...The business people have been very vocal about getting that flight back."
The regional carrier will offer one morning and one afternoon flight in each direction, with each flight averaging about an hour of travel time. ExpressJet Marketing Director John Yeng said customers can start making reservations for trips that will take place on or after November 11 at www.xjet.com.
Prices for a roundtrip ticket to either San Diego or Sacramento, including taxes and fees, hover around $140 to $160, according to the reservation website. As of yesterday, those prices didn't go up on weekends or during holidays.
ExpressJet execs were quick to point out their upgraded service, which includes free XM Satellite Radio and headsets, memory-foam seats and complimentary carryon baggage valet service.
"Most airlines nickel and dime you to death," Chief Pilot Michael Flood said as he sat in the cockpit. "We want to go against the grain."
Flood said the airline offers snacks for shorter flights; cereal, pasta and sandwiches for longer flights; and $1 beer and $3 wine. The Embraer 145 jets that comprise the ExpressJet fleet hold 50 people and don't have a middle seat, with a row of single seats along one side and a row of double seats along the other side.
"We have the right product for non-congested airports," Yeng said. "People won't have to go through major hubs like Los Angeles."
Flood said while the jets may not be as large as other major airlines, they are "extremely safe and extremely modern." He said the average age of an ExpressJet aircraft is just five years.
"I have a lot of faith in this plane," Flood said as he booted up the state-of-the-art navigation equipment.
Officials also highlighted the JetSet frequent flier program, which rewards customers for how often they fly, instead of how far they fly. Special discounts will be available to JetSet members for Avis car rentals, which already offers a 20 to 25 percent discount when customers reserve a car on the ExpressJet site.
The airline also plans to bring between 10 and 15 jobs to Santa Barbara and invest more than $300,000 in ticketing and baggage facilities and equipment at the Santa Barbara terminal.
Fortune magazine listed ExpressJet on its Most Admired Airlines list in 2005 and 2006, and the airline also received an Annual Business Travel Award from Conde Nast Traveler in 2005.