Travelers heading out of the Santa Barbara Airport may have to adjust their plans.

Airport Director Christopher Hastert said Southwest Airlines is planning to suspend some of its Denver flights this summer. It will not be dropping the Denver flights entirely but will be reducing the flights to the weekend only.

“We have been told that it has to do with delays in aircraft deliveries,” Hastert said.

He went on to say that Southwest Airlines is being affected nationally and has already pulled out from multiple airports.

Southwest is still adjusting its schedule, but the weekday flights between Santa Barbara and Denver are expected to be suspended from August through September, Hastert said. The exact dates are not yet known.

“We have our staff meeting with Southwest at industry events in the next few weeks to learn more about the future,” Hastert said.

The modified schedule comes at one of the busiest times of the year for tourism on the Santa Barbara South Coast, with the airport being a major hub of travel. The region saw 6.5 million visitors last year, according to a 2023 visitor profile by Visit Santa Barbara.

Of the visitors who arrived through the airport, 70% were from out of state.

Despite Denver flights being canceled, Hastert said travelers can still book Southwest flights at the Santa Barbara Airport to Las Vegas, Sacramento and Oakland airports to reach connecting flights.

Additionally, Delta is still on track to return to Santa Barbara in July and resume flights to Atlanta and Salt Lake City. That move was announced last September.

Hastert explained that airplane delivery issues are not only affecting Southwest but are impacting multiple airlines across the country.

“This is not a Santa Barbara-specific issue, but (an issue) for airports across the nation,” Hastert said. “We hope to get back to our regular schedule soon.”