Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport has another four months before it welcomes Southwest Airlines to Santa Rosa. Even so, the Dallas-based airline has already determined there is enough demand to add more flights to one of the markets it will start off operating only on Saturdays.
That route is Denver.
Airport Manager Jon Stout confirmed Wednesday that beginning Aug. 26, Southwest will fly to Denver five days a week. In addition to Saturdays, it will service the Colorado city on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays.
“The demand is definitely there, and advanced bookings have been noticed, and we will continue to work with them to increase beyond that,” Stout said.
That is especially good news as the regional airport gets close to finishing 2025 with a revised total passenger forecast lower than the 800,000-plus previously expected. That figure would have overtaken the current record high of 772,558 passengers flown in 2024.
“We’re probably going to be really close to last year’s number overall,” Stout said.
The main reason was an unexpected uptick in cancelled flights last month, primarily because of tule fog that still hasn’t let up for more than three weeks, according to Stout and recent reporting from multiple outlets, including the Weather Channel, Fresno Bee and New York Times. The coming rain will ease the fog.
The cancellations at STS are for incoming evening flights, Stout said. When those flights are cancelled, those airplanes normally parked overnight at the Sonoma County facility are not there for morning departures, Stout said.
Hawaii?
Meanwhile, Stout traveled to Seattle last month to meet with Alaska Airlines to talk about the possibility of more opportunities for added markets.
“Alaska is very interested in the possibility of flying Santa Rosa to Honolulu,” Stout said. “They just announced Burbank to Honolulu flights with an aircraft type that would work in Santa Rosa. And given the similarities of the airport, shorter runway and distance to Hawaii, they want to ensure the operating performance works first before they commit.”
The Burbank to Honolulu flights begin May 13.
November passenger figures
Looking at the airport’s performance through November 2025, the airlines servicing the airport collectively flew 724,457 passengers, up 4.4% from November 2024, according to the figures released Wednesday.
Alaska Airlines and American Airlines account for most of that performance, but it also includes the 89,863 passengers Avelo flew this year until its Aug.12 departure from the airport.
For the month of November alone, the airport handled 62,333 passengers, down 19.2% from a year prior.
Last month, Alaska flew 52,745 passengers, up 8.2% from a year earlier. Its load factor — the measure of how full planes are on average — was 76%.
American Airlines in November flew 9,588 passengers, down 8.3% from November 2024. The airline’s load factor was 82%.
Dallas intrigue
As planned, American’s annual seasonal service to Dallas paused Dec. 2, Stout said, adding the flight is now on the books to resume May 21.
Over the last several years, Stout’s meetings with American have included asking for the Dallas flight to become year-round. He said there is enough compelling data to make that flight successful all year, but the airline hasn’t made that move.
But airlines are competitive and Fort Worth, Texas-based American is no exception, Stout said.
American may be taking note of Southwest’s impending arrival at the Sonoma County airport, and that its Dallas headquarters at Love Field is just 20 miles away.
“We’re hoping to go meet with Southwest in the spring, probably in March, to talk about 2027. Love Field is going to be on that list,” Stout said. “Southwest may not be going right into Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, but if it will go into Love Field (from Santa Rosa), that’s going to take people off of American.”
