SLO County airport adds flights to 2 cities amid COVID-19 precautions, new director says
San Luis Obispo County’s new director of airports takes over at a challenging time for travel.
Courtney Johnson, who has served as the county’s airports deputy director since January 2019, will begin her new post as the airport’s interim director on Oct. 10. She’ll oversee San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport and Oceano County Airport.
Johnson replaces Kevin Bumen, who left to become the chief commercial officer for San Francisco International Airport.
“These are unprecedented times for our airport and the aviation industry, and we are fortunate to have an exceptional team as (the airport) faces the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead,” Johnson said in a news release. “Together, we will continue to build upon San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport’s successful history focused on serving the community with pride.”
The San Luis Obispo airport currently offers nine flights a day to destinations including Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Seattle. Nonstop flights to cities such as Denver and San Francisco are running twice per day.
That’s down from 20 daily flights at the airport before the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely impacted passenger travel.
The airport’s passenger load is currently around 65%, meaning that airplanes are more than two thirds full. That’s 20% more than California’s average of 45%, Johnson said.
And more flights are coming.
Alaska Airlines is scheduled to begin daily nonstop flights from San Luis Obispo to San Diego and Portland in March 2021.
Flights to San Diego began in January 2020, but service was suspended, and the start of flights to Portland was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Johnson said Contour Airlines flights from San Luis Obispo to Las Vegas were permanently canceled in March, but there’s currently discussion about beginning chartered flights to Las Vegas.
SLO County airport takes COVID-19 precautions
Johnson said San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport is working hard to maintain high standards of cleanliness, keeping a frequent cleansing schedule and using touchless systems as much as possible for services.
The airport is working with the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, which assesses a facility’s preparedness and provides staff with education and training for biorisk prevention and containment.
“There are a lot of procedures and processes,” Johnson said. “Airplanes are grounded for the night and crews are doing a great job of mitigating the risk by spraying them down thoroughly.”
In a September survey conducted by the San Luis Obispo airport, 71% of travelers said they were flying for leisure, while 19% said they were traveling for business and 10% declined to answer, Johnson said.
In her new role, Johnson will manage a budget of $9.1 million and a team of 20 full-time employees at the San Luis Obispo and Oceano airports, county officials said in a news release.
She will direct all activities at the airports department, including commercial and general aviation operations.
“Courtney has been instrumental in charting airport strategic direction since joining the department’s executive team,” San Luis Obispo County Administrative Officer Wade Horton said in the release. “I look forward to what the future holds under Courtney’s leadership.”
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the overall passenger load for California flights.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 12:18 PM.
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