Many residents of the Santa Barbara region need to travel by air, even during a pandemic. Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is open for business and doing all it can to ensure your travel experience is as safe and comfortable as possible during these unprecedented times. Assuring our passengers safety is nothing new for SBA. But especially these days, everyone who works at the Airport is making health and safety our number one priority. SBA follows Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines and is staying in close communication with Santa Barbara County Health, as well as state and federal agencies, to ensure safety guidelines and cleaning protocols are strictly followed.
Several significant changes travelers should expect are:
- New, robust glass counter guards at check-in counters and gate boarding podiums
- Required face covering for all visitors, passengers and employees
- Disposable masks are available from airlines and at the security checkpoint, if needed
- Hand sanitizer stations and social distancing signage throughout the terminal
- Nightly mist disinfectant cleaning in the terminal
- Frequent disinfecting of high-touch surfaces such as escalator handrails and elevator buttons
- Expanded queuing area where available, including stanchions to space travelers
- Expanded seat spacing and seating removal in hold rooms
- Greater spacing in the restaurant dining area
- More convenient grab-and-go food options to satisfy appetites on the plane
- Directional signage outside the terminal to help with the flow of traffic
“All of us at Santa Barbara Airport would like to thank the entire community for doing their part to contain the virus and for taking the right precautions when traveling. We know sometimes you need to travel by air and we are ready to serve when it’s time to fly,” says Santa Barbara Airport Director, Henry Thompson. “We are working hard to make sure that SBA’s easy, convenient and welcoming atmosphere never changes, even when so much else has changed in 2020.”
The number of airline passengers screened by the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) has slowly, but steadily, increased from a near stand-still back in April. In 2019, SBA typically handled about 1,500-1,800 passengers a day. Since Labor Day, daily passenger numbers hover around 400-600 passengers – about 30% of normal. SBA’s current roster of airlines – Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines – continue to add back flights as demand increases. Contour Airlines and Delta Air Lines have temporarily suspended service during the pandemic and hope to return once passenger volumes begin to return to normal levels. Passengers are encouraged to arrive well in advance of their flight since travel is beginning to increase, and new procedures such as social distancing can potentially add time to the pre-flight process. Santa Barbara Airport strongly recommends checking with your airline often for the most up-to-date information regarding your flight schedule and status.
If your driver’s license or state-issued ID expired on or after March 1, 2020, and you cannot renew at your state’s driver’s license agency, you may still use it as acceptable identification at the security checkpoint. TSA will accept expired driver’s licenses or state-issued ID a year after expiration. DHS has extended the REAL ID enforcement deadline to October 1, 2021.
SBA has created a “Safe Air Travel Check List” as an easy reminder for travelers, which includes:
- Face Coverings
- Hand and Surface Sanitizers
- Wash Hands Regularly
- Keep a Safe 6 ft (2M) Distance from Others
- Check with Your Airline for Specific Regulations
- Do Not Travel if You Are Feeling Sick
For a copy of the checklist and more information about what to expect when traveling through SBA during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit www.flysba.com.
SBA currently offers daily direct flights to Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle. New daily service to San Diego will begin on November 20 on Alaska Airlines.