The Charles M. Schultz- Sonoma County Airport, is working on adding more flights this spring 2020. With commercial flight sales up they’re hoping to add more flights and bring more business. Sonoma County Airport offers daily nonstop flights to Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Dallas, and Phoenix harbor, to name a few. Sonoma County Airport has three commercial airlines that operate flights to certain locations: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and United Airlines, with the seasonal flights from Sun Country Airlines offering flights to Minneapolis and Las Vegas. Sonoma County Airport also offers connecting flights to anywhere in the continental U.S., Mexico, and other regions. With peak season being in the Spring some Sonoma State students find it more convenient when traveling back home. “I recently flew into the Sonoma County Airport, it was nice and very convenient. There was less waiting time and I didn’t have a long drive back home as I would if I had landed at SFO,” Cindy Robledo, Senior at Sonoma State. 

            The Sonoma County Airport offers a hassle-free experience with shorter lines, convenient transportation, and smooth, affordable parking and also electric vehicle charging stations. The Airport is located 55-miles north of San Francisco, offering full-service airport to regions such as Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma Counties. They also have airport features such as affordable long and short-term parking, the Sky Lounge Steakhouse and Sushi Bar, complimentary WiFi, and a generous pet-relief. Sonoma County Airlines offers more flights to Southern California, especially during the summer peak season. They have 130 connecting flights to destinations worldwide. Sonoma County Airlines recently started flights to LAX at the beginning of May 2019 and flights to Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) in June 2019. 

            Alaska Airlines during peak season offers nine nonstop flights from Santa Rosa to five West Coast cities. During the summer peak season they will be adding a second daily trip from Santa Rosa to San Diego starting March 2020. American Airlines will also begin offering flights from Santa Rosa to Dallas- Fort Worth International Airport in June but will transition the route to a year- around service when the flight returns during the spring. The airline has logged average passenger capacities over 80% for this specific flight. American Airlines can add a second daily flight from Santa Rosa to American Airlines headquarters in the future. 

            Some airlines plan to add flights are still tentative, United Airlines being one of them. They began nonstop services to Denver in March; they’ve had successful average passenger capacities for Flights to Denver and Chicago. Alaska airlines picked up a second trip to San Diego in the morning to match the evening option. Santa Rosa Airport offers an all-time high of 15 daily during peak periods. With all these flights and new routes added has brought in a revenue of $23 million annually, including 70 new jobs. The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, CEO, Peter Rumble, had a few words about the expansion, “That kind of expansion is an amazing thing for our economy. Our tourism industry benefits greatly,” according to The Press Democrat. 

            Each new flight doesn’t just benefit the economy and tourism industry, but it adds to greenhouse gas emissions. According to a report released by the International Council on Clean Transportation showed a rise of 32% in global aviation emissions over the past five years. Jerry Bernhaut, a Santa Rosa-based environmental attorney spoke to the Press Democrat saying, “It’s a constant issue, and there’s just a tremendous amount of momentum for people to do business and recreate with air travel. This is a global issue but is more directed towards our region due to the local government allowing more air travel.”