Santa Maria Army Airfield
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Santa Maria Public Airport (Capt. G. Allan Hancock Field) is three miles (5 km) south of Santa Maria, in northern
Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, United States.


History

The airport was built by the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, known as Santa Maria Army Air Field. Its primary mission was to provide training for
B-25 The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...
bomber pilots, however flight training was abandoned by December 1942. The field fell into a state of disuse until the arrival of the
Lockheed P-38 The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...
twin engine fighter in September 1943. During its use by the military Santa Maria AAF also controlled Estrella Army Airfield, near
Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for The Pass of Oaks), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River about north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot springs, ...
as an auxiliary airfield to support the pilot training activity. After the war
Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...
and the city of Santa Maria acquired the land and facilities through two grants in 1948. In 1964 the Army Air Field was renamed Santa Maria Public Airport. The Santa Maria Museum of Flight opened at the airport in 1988. In 2020, the airport was again used for training by a fleet of military jets while
Naval Air Station Point Mugu Naval Air Station Point Mugu was a United States naval air station near Oxnard, California, which operated as an independent base from 1941 to 2000, when it merged with nearby Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme to form Naval Base ...
was performing maintenance on its airfield. The fleet consisted of six 1960
Hawker Hunters The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Ro ...
multi-role fighters and two 1970
IAI Kfir The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir (, "Lion Cub") is an Israeli all-weather multirole combat aircraft based on the French Dassault Mirage 5, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-built version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine. Develop ...
interceptors. The
Planes of Fame Air Museum Planes of Fame Air Museum is an aviation museum at Chino Airport in Chino, California. History The Air Museum was founded by Edward T. Maloney on January 12, 1957, in Claremont, California, to save historically important aircraft.
announced plans to open a new location at the airport in 2023.


Past airline service

The first airline at Santa Maria was Pacific Seaboard Air Lines. In 1933 Pacific Seaboard scheduled two daily
Bellanca CH-300 The Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker was a six-seat utility aircraft, built primarily in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. It was a development of the Bellanca CH-200, fitted with a more powerful engine and, like the CH-200, soon became renowned ...
s Los Angeles - Santa Barbara - Santa Maria - San Luis Obispo - Paso Robles - Monterey - Salinas - San Jose - San Francisco. After receiving a mail contract, Pacific Seaboard moved its entire operation to the eastern U.S. in 1934, be renamed
Chicago and Southern Air Lines Chicago and Southern Air Lines (C&S) was a United States trunk carrier, a scheduled airline that started life as Pacific Seaboard Air Lines in California and was organized on June 15, 1933. Following the move from California, the airline's hea ...
, and in 1953 was acquired by and merged into
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
.
Southwest Airways Pacific Air Lines was a local service carrier on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid-1940s under the name Southwest Airways. The company linked small cities in California with larger cities such ...
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...
s began service during the 1940s. The June 1, 1947 timetable lists three daily round trips Los Angeles-Oxnard-Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo-Coalinga-Monterey-Santa Cruz/Watsonville-San Jose/Moffett Field-San Francisco. Southwest changed its name to
Pacific Air Lines Pacific Air Lines was a local service carrier on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid-1940s under the name Southwest Airways. The company linked small cities in California with larger cities such ...
and operated
Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 is an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G (la ...
s and
Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 are versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined, turboprop, passenger aircraft formerly manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to ...
s to Santa Maria in the 1960s. Pacific merged with
Bonanza Air Lines Bonanza Air Lines was a local service carrier, a US scheduled airline focused on smaller routes in the Western United States (and eventually Mexico) from 1949 until it merged with two other local service airlines to form Air West in 1968. Its he ...
and
West Coast Airlines West Coast Airlines was a United States local service carrier, a scheduled airline certificated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), linking small cities in the Pacific Northwest with larger cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, ...
to form Air West in 1968, which became
Hughes Airwest Hughes Air Corporation, doing business as Hughes Airwest, was a local service carrier from 1970 to 1980 in the Western United States. It was backed by Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation. Its original name in 1968 was Air West and the air carr ...
in 1970. Hughes Airwest then served Santa Maria with
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell A ...
s and
Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 are versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined, turboprop, passenger aircraft formerly manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to ...
s. In 1974 and 1975 Hughes Airwest operated
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell ...
Series 30 jets to Los Angeles and San Francisco. This was the only time Santa Maria had nonstop mainline jets to LAX and SFO at the same time. DC-9 jet flights ended in 1976 and Hughes Airwest F-27 flights to Santa Maria ended in 1979. A number of commuter airlines served the airport. In 1968 Cable Commuter Airlines was flying
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking ...
s to
LAX A lax is a salmon. LAX as an acronym most commonly refers to Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California, United States. LAX or Lax may also refer to: Places Within Los Angeles * Union Station (Los Angeles), Los Angeles' main tr ...
. Cable Commuter was later merged into
Golden West Airlines Golden West Airlines was a commuter airline that operated flights on a high volume schedule in California. It ceased operations in 1983. History The original Golden West Airlines, headquartered at Van Nuys, California, was founded in 1968 ...
but service to Santa Maria ended in the early 1970s. Golden West briefly returned to the airport in 1982 using
Short 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...
aircraft. Santa Barbara-based Apollo Airways (which later changed its name to Pacific Coast Airlines) flying Handley Page HP.137 Jetstreams served Santa Maria during the latter 1970's. Swift Aire Lines, based at nearby San Luis Obispo Airport, served Santa Maria through most of the 1970s decade with flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose, mainly with new
Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...
s. Swift Aire also previously operated
Nord 262 Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televi ...
s and
de Havilland Heron The de Havilland DH.114 Heron is a small Propeller (aircraft), propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more Reciprocating e ...
s to the airport and then ended service in 1981.
Wings West Airlines Wings West Airlines was an American regional airline headquartered at McChesney Field (SBP), unincorporated area, unincorporated San Luis Obispo County, California. The airline initially began scheduled passenger service as an independent commute ...
began service as an independent commuter air carrier in 1982 and then began operating as American Eagle on behalf of
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
in 1986. The San Luis Obispo-based carrier flew to Los Angeles and San Francisco with Beechcraft C99s,
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, Cabin pressurization, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation, Swearingen ...
s,
BAe Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...
s, and
Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30–36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 differen ...
s operated as
code sharing A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
flights for American. Service was discontinued service in 1996. West Air began flying as
United Express United Express is a regional airline network that supports United Airlines operations, primarily by serving smaller cities and connecting traffic to United's main hubs. Representing six percent of United's total capacity for 2024, United Express ...
on behalf of
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
in 1986 to San Francisco and later to Los Angeles. West Air flew
BAe Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...
s and
Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Holste; it had been designed in li ...
s.
Mesa Airlines Mesa Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona. Mesa operates and maintains a fleet of Embraer E-175 Aircraft that are scheduled, marketed and sold by United Airlines as United Express. ...
bought out West Air in 1992 and continued service as
United Express United Express is a regional airline network that supports United Airlines operations, primarily by serving smaller cities and connecting traffic to United's main hubs. Representing six percent of United's total capacity for 2024, United Express ...
until 1997. From 1993 through 1995 Mesa operated as CalPac using
Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...
s on its United Express service.
SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah. SkyWest operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by four partner Mainline (air travel), mainline airlines. The comp ...
began flights to Santa Maria in 1985 when it acquired
Sun Aire Lines Sun Aire Lines was a United States commuter airline that operated from 1968 to 1985. Sun Aire served a number of cities in Southern California and Arizona. History Sun Aire Lines was founded as Borrego Springs Airlines in 1968. Its operations in ...
which had begun serving the airport in 1982. In 1986 SkyWest began a code sharing agreement with
Western Airlines Western Airlines was a major airline in the United States based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mex ...
and began flying as Western Express. One year later Western Airlines merged into
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
and SkyWest's flights then began operating as
Delta Connection Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic mark ...
. The carrier flew
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, Cabin pressurization, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation, Swearingen ...
s and
Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series o ...
s, mainly to Los Angeles. In 1997 SkyWest changed its service from operating as Delta Connection to operate as
United Express United Express is a regional airline network that supports United Airlines operations, primarily by serving smaller cities and connecting traffic to United's main hubs. Representing six percent of United's total capacity for 2024, United Express ...
on behalf of
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
(replacing Mesa Airlines) still with service nonstop to Los Angeles using Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias. Flights to LAX were discontinued in 2015 in favor of nonstop flights to SFO using Canadair regional jets; however, SkyWest operating as United Express ceased all operations at Santa Maria on October 5, 2016.
Mokulele Airlines Mokulele Airlines is a regional airline operating in Hawaii. The airline operates scheduled inter-island and charter flights, primarily between smaller airports and its hubs at Kahului Airport on the island of Maui and Daniel K. Inouye Interna ...
Cessna 208 Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...
s replaced the SkyWest/United Express service to Los Angeles (
LAX A lax is a salmon. LAX as an acronym most commonly refers to Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California, United States. LAX or Lax may also refer to: Places Within Los Angeles * Union Station (Los Angeles), Los Angeles' main tr ...
). In 2016, Mokulele moved its flights to the Los Angeles area from LAX to the
Hollywood Burbank Airport Hollywood Burbank Airport is a public airport northwest of downtown Burbank, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. effective November 9, 2017 The airport serves Burbank, Hollywood, and the norther ...
but then dropped Santa Maria on November 30, 2017. During the peak of its airline service from 1986 through 1996, Santa Maria saw service by American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express simultaneously and all three air carriers were operating a combined total of up to 22 flights per day to Los Angeles plus several flights to San Francisco with turboprop commuter aircraft. From 1997 until 2006 United Express was the only carrier at Santa Maria. Since United Express left Santa Maria in 2016, the city has had no service by an
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...
carrier.


Current airline service

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air is an American ultra low-cost carrier, ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline focuses on serving leisure traffic from small and medium-sized cities which it considers to be underserved, using an ult ...
began serving Santa Maria in 2006. The carrier currently flies
Airbus A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of . Final ass ...
and
Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...
mainline jets nonstop to Las Vegas twice a week each way. Allegiant Air previously operated nonstop service to Phoenix via the
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Mesa Gateway Airport – also known as Phoenix–Mesa Airport – is an international airport in southeastern Mesa, Arizona, located approximately southeast of Phoenix, in Maricopa County. effective May 15, 2025, AirportIQ 5010, GCR Inc. ...
and Portland, OR. On November 17, 2012, Allegiant Air briefly operated
Boeing 757-200 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its maiden ...
mainline jets from Santa Maria nonstop to Honolulu once a week until August 14, 2013. Allegiant also previously operated
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...
mainline jets on its nonstop flights to Las Vegas and
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Mesa Gateway Airport – also known as Phoenix–Mesa Airport – is an international airport in southeastern Mesa, Arizona, located approximately southeast of Phoenix, in Maricopa County. effective May 15, 2025, AirportIQ 5010, GCR Inc. ...
.
United Express United Express is a regional airline network that supports United Airlines operations, primarily by serving smaller cities and connecting traffic to United's main hubs. Representing six percent of United's total capacity for 2024, United Express ...
operated by
SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah. SkyWest operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by four partner Mainline (air travel), mainline airlines. The comp ...
was planning to resume service on September 30, 2021, with a single daily flight to Denver as well as a single daily flight to San Francisco. Both flights were planned to be operated with
Bombardier CRJ100/200 The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 (previously Canadair CRJ100 and CRJ200) are regional jets designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace between 1991 and 2006, the first of the Bombardier CRJ family. The ''Canadair Regional Jet'' (CRJ) pro ...
regional jets. The service was scheduled to begin on June 4, 2020, but has been postponed several times.


Facilities

The airport covers and has two
asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...
runways: 12/30, 8,004 x 150 ft (2,439 x 46 m) and 2/20, 5,189 x 75 ft (1,582 x 23 m). In 2007 the airport had 62,480 aircraft operations, average 171 per day: 79%
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
, 19%
air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...
, 2% military and <1% airline. 243 aircraft are based at the airport: 83% single-engine, 7% multi-engine, 6%
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
, 3% jet, <1% glider and <1%
ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...
. A new baggage claim facility opened in 2007. It was one of the first airports on the Central Coast to use a state of the art
baggage carousel A baggage carousel is a device, generally at an airport, that delivers checked luggage to the passengers at the baggage reclaim area at their final destination. Airports without carousels generally deliver baggage by placing it on the floor or ...
, on a small scale. A new terminal holding room opened in February 2008. The old area had room for 30 passengers. Designed for the Allegiant Air flights, the new holding room accommodates 200 passengers and has room for a cafe. A runway extension was completed on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft. to 8,004 ft. The extended runway at Santa Maria gives the airport the longest civil runway between Los Angeles and San Jose on the central coast (Bakersfield's primary runway at Meadows Field in the Central Valley (10855 x 150 ft.) and Vandenberg AFB's runway (15000 x 200 ft.) are longer). RLC - "Above And Beyond" uses a fleet of
Sikorsky S-76 The Sikorsky S-76 is a medium-size commercial utility helicopter designed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It is the company's first helicopter specifically developed for the civilian market. The S-76 ...
helicopters to transport oil rig workers to Platform Irene, Platform Hidalgo, Platform Harvest and Platform Hermosa from its operating base next to Central Coast Jet Center in Santa Maria.


Aerial firefighting air tanker base

The Santa Maria Airport serves as an
aerial firefighting Aerial firefighting, also known as waterbombing, is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to Wildfire suppression, combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers ar ...
air tanker base for the
U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...
as well as for state and local firefighting agencies in California. Aerial firefighting air tanker aircraft operating from the airport have included the
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971 ...
wide body jet flown by 10 Tanker Air Carrier, the
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...
jet flown by Erickson Aero Tanker, the
Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
turboprop and the
Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...
flown by Coulson Flying Tankers, and the
Grumman S-2 Tracker The Grumman S-2 Tracker (S2F prior to 1962) is the first purpose-built, single airframe anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy. Designed and initially built by Grumman, the Tracker was of conventional ...
(S-2T version) turboprop operated by the
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, colloquially known as CAL FIRE, is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various area ...
(CAL FIRE).


Airlines and destinations


Passenger


Cargo


Statistics


Annual traffic


Ground transportation

The airport is located south of Santa Maria along Skyway Drive at Terminal Drive. Both
US 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...
and State Route 135 (Broadway) can be reached from the airport by heading north on Skyway Drive and then turning east onto Betteravia Road. Short and long-term parking is available, but passenger vehicles left more than 14 days must obtain prior approval by the Airport Administration. The airport is served by Santa Maria Area Transit routes 4 and the Breeze, the Santa Maria Cab Company,
Lyft Lyft, Inc. is an American company offering ride-hailing services, motorized scooters, and bicycle-sharing systems in the United States and Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic pricing model based on local supply and demand a ...
,
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...
, and other local services.


Allan Hancock Field

The original Allan Hancock Field was established in 1927 at another location, between Jones Street to the north, Stowell Road to the south, Bradley Road to the east and Miller Street to the west. The airport housed the Allan Hancock College of Aeronautics operated by the Hancock Foundation of Aeronautics. Before
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, it was one of eight civil training military aviation cadets. After the war the field was used by the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
for their four-year Aeronautics Degree program. In 1958 a bond was passed allowing Santa Maria Junior College to purchase the land, much of which would become the campus of what is now known as
Allan Hancock College Allan Hancock College is a public community college in Santa Maria, California. It offers associate degrees at its Lompoc Valley campus and at nearby Vandenberg Space Force Base. The college is part of the California Community College System ...
. The name of the original Santa Maria Airport and Hancock's name then transferred to the other, now public airport in town.


See also

* California World War II Army Airfields *
35th Flying Training Wing (World War II) The 35th Flying Training Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Western Flying Training Command, and was disbanded on 16 June 1946 at the Minter Field, California. There is no lineage between the United Sta ...


References


Sources


External links


Central Coast Jet Center
* * {{Authority control 1942 establishments in California Airports established in 1942 Airports in Santa Barbara County, California Santa Maria, California Public transportation in Santa Barbara County, California USAAF Western Flying Training Command American Theater of World War II USAAF Contract Flying School Airfields