Commuters between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara will soon have fewer options available when traveling by air between the two cities, as American Airlines announced Feb. 26 it is cutting service between LAX and Santa Barbara Airport (SBA).
The service disconnection will officially take effect April 1.
American Airlines has serviced SBA since 1984, but will only offer flights from SBA to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Ariz., via U.S. Airways.
The ending of service from SBA to LAX is part of a restructuring of routes due to the merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways.
“We have had a strong partnership with American Airlines since 1984. We knew that with the merger of American and US Airways there was a possibility of change, and it is always disappointing to lose flights and capacity,” acting SBA director Hazel Johns stated.
United Airlines will now be the only air carrier to offer non-stop flights between LAX and SBA. The flight from LAX to SBA is 89 miles – about 45 minutes long – according to United.
SBA claims to be the busiest airport between Los Angeles and San Jose, servicing 2,100 passengers daily and more than 750,000 annually. Currently, five major airlines offer air service from SBA.
Passengers who booked a flight on American Airlines to fly to LAX from SBA or vice versa should contact the air carrier at (800) 433-7300 for more information.
No statistics were made available about how many people fly between LAX and SBA.
American and U.S. Airways began the merger process in January 2012.The deal reportedly picked up steam in February 2013 but endured a few legal bumps most of last year.
In November 2013, a lawsuit revolving around the proposed merger had reportedly settled. As part of the reported settlement, American Airlines agreed to sell two gates it had owned at LAX to a low-cost carrier.
It is unclear whether the selling of the two gates at LAX factored into the air carrier’s decision to cease LAX-SBA service.
