Santa Rosa airport's Denver flight pushed back again

United Airlines’ planned resumption of service from Santa Rosa to Denver – postponed three times before – is being delayed again, airport officials said.

“The information that we have is that Denver has been suspended until Feb. 11,” according to Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport Manager Jon Stout. “We’re still working to get additional information from United.”

Stout said the airline so far has indicated the delay has to do with aircraft and pilot availability out of Denver. The last date the airline stated for its return service to Denver was Oct. 31.

United restarted its flights to San Francisco on Aug.1.

In addition, American Airlines will suspend its Dallas flight at the Santa Rosa facility for about three months starting Nov. 2, Stout said. As of now, the restart date is Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, on the construction front, the airport is wrapping up the first phase of its $31 million terminal improvement and modernization project that kicked off last November.

Over Sept. 13 and Sept. 14, the baggage area and ticket counters for three of the airlines servicing the airport will be relocated, Stout said.

“American and United will move from checking in passengers in the modular building to the lobby,” Stout said. Avelo, which began service at the airport in late April, will move from its current counter in the lobby to its permanent spot, he said.

TSA will move to its newly built area for screening bags, Stout noted, and baggage will go out on a new belt system for the airlines to pick up and take to the aircraft.

“From a project standpoint, it's a big milestone,” Stout said. “The impact for what the customers will see is just the change of where they check-in.”

The airport project includes 33,000 square feet of new construction and 7,000 square feet of renovation. Once construction is complete, the terminal’s total square footage will be approximately 56,000 square feet. The project, which had been forecast for completion in Oct. 2022, will most likely be finished by the end of 2022, Stout said.

The airport last week also released its passenger volume for July, which didn’t change much from June.

Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and Avelo Airlines — the three commercial carriers servicing the airport in July — collectively flew 48,926 passengers through the Sonoma County facility, up 317.3% from a year earlier. In June, the airport flew 49,186 passengers, according to the latest figures.

Alaska Airlines, the regional facility’s largest commercial carrier, flew 30,668 passengers in July, up 324.1% from July 2020, and nearly 600 more passengers than the month prior. Alaska’s load factor — the measure of how full airplanes are on average — was 82%, compared to 31% a year earlier.

An additional Alaska daily flight to John Wayne Airport in Orange County and San Diego International Airport is still on track to begin Sept. 8, Stout said.

American Airlines in July flew 12,450 passengers through the Santa Rosa airport, up 230.5% from the year prior and an additional 738 passengers from June 2021. The carrier’s load factor was 89%, up from 46% in July 2020.

Avelo Airlines, which on July 15 announced it will add a Las Vegas route from the Santa Rosa airport beginning Sept. 16, flew 5,808 passengers in July compared to 7,388 passengers in June. The drop could be attributed to the airline changing its service from seven days a week to five days, but that’s not certain, Stout said. Avelo’s load factor was 70%.