In 1933
Pacific Seaboard Air Lines single engine
Bellanca CH-300s flew twice daily each way: Los Angeles - Santa Barbara - Santa Maria - San Luis Obispo - Paso Robles - Monterey - Salinas - San Jose - San Francisco. Pacific Seaboard later moved its operation to the eastern U.S., was renamed
Chicago and Southern Air Lines, and became a large domestic and international airline that in 1953 was acquired by and merged into
Delta Air Lines. Earl Thomson, along with his brothers-in-law, William "Chris" and David Hoover, talked county officials into leasing them the land for an airport. By April 1939 it opened with an hangar and dirt runways. During World War II the federal government took over the airport: From 1938 until 1941, the
U.S. Army Air Corps and the
California National Guard used 218 acres as an aerial observation training center; In 1940 the War Department added hard surface runways and lights, barracks, hangars, and mechanic shops. In 1940 and 1941, 183 private pilots and 20 advanced students were trained here though a federally sponsored Civilian Pilot Training Program for armed services fliers. In 1943, the Navy began using the airport as a training center for the Pacific Fleet, calling the airport
Naval Outlying Field, San Luis Obispo and the
Naval Auxiliary Air Station, San Luis Obispo. In 1947 county supervisors contracted for another hangar, ramp, and eventually an administration building. The supervisors named Chris Hoover full-time airport manager in 1953. San Luis Obispo Airport had no scheduled airline service from 1956 until 1969 when locally based
Swift Aire Lines began scheduled flights with
Piper Navajos. Swift Aire's headquarters were at San Luis Obispo; it eventually operated
Fokker F27 Friendships bought new from Fokker as well as
Nord 262s and
de Havilland Herons. In 1975, after ending service to Paso Robles the year before,
Hughes Airwest was operating
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s to nearby
Santa Maria Public Airport to serve the San Luis Obispo area; these nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco soon ended. SkyWest (
United Express) now has Canadair CRJ-200s on most nonstops to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver with a planned change to larger
Embraer ERJ-175 regional jets for one daily flight each to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and all flights to Denver.
United Airlines has now added mainline Airbus A319 jet service nonstop between Denver and the airport.
Allegiant Air considered the airport for nonstop
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jet service to Las Vegas, but the short runway at the time at SBP resulted in their flights being operated from the
Santa Maria Airport. In January 2009, a charter
Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-400 arrived at SBP from
Chico and was the largest aircraft ever to land at San Luis. The flight carried 125 members of the
San Francisco Symphony arriving to perform at
Cal Poly's Performing Arts Center. From April 1 to 4, 2009 charter
Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-700s,
Frontier Airlines Airbus A319s, and
Southwest Airlines Boeing 737s arrived at San Luis Obispo County carrying Oregon National Guard military troops. The mainline A319 operated by both
American Airlines and
United Airlines is currently the largest jet aircraft type to serve San Luis Obispo in scheduled passenger service. On December 13, 2018,
American Airlines announced daily nonstop flights to Dallas/Fort Worth which began on April 2, 2019. The flights were being operated with
American Eagle CRJ-700 and
Embraer E-175 regional jets and are currently being operated with mainline
Boeing 737-800 jetliners. On June 26, 2019,
Contour Airlines announced flights to Las Vegas which began October 17, 2019 with
Embraer ERJ-135s. In March 2020, due to COVID-19, the airline ended service to the airport. On September 4, 2019, Alaska Airlines announced daily flights with the ERJ-175 to Portland, Oregon (starting on June 17, 2021), and San Diego. ==Environmental contamination==