JSX has not even launched its Santa Monica service yet, and it is already announcing more flights.
JSX Expands Santa Monica Service With More Las Vegas Flights And New Route To Scottsdale
JSX has announced an expansion of its new service at Santa Monica Airport (SMO), increasing flight frequencies to Las Vegas and adding a new nonstop route to Scottsdale. This comes just as JSX is set to begin service from SMO to Las Vegas (LAS) tomorrow, December 19, 2025.
As I wrote previously, JSX is positioning Santa Monica as a frictionless alternative to LAX and other crowded Los Angeles area airports, with a private terminal experience and a short curb-to-seat timeline. The appeal is obvious for travelers on the Westside, especially when the alternative is a perpetually busy LAX.
Under the new expansion plan, JSX will launch daily nonstop service between Santa Monica and Scottsdale Airport (SCF) starting January 22, 2026. Scottsdale is a logical addition, pairing the Westside of Los Angeles with a major leisure and business destination in Arizona that also fits neatly into the short-haul, high-comfort niche JSX is selling.
JSX will also increase service between Santa Monica and Las Vegas (LAS). The carrier says it will expand to twice-daily flights, then increase again to three daily flights beginning February 5, 2026. If you are building a schedule around weekend demand and last-minute trips, frequency matters, and this is marks a big ramp-up of service from SMO.
All Santa Monica flights will operate on ATR 42-600 turboprop aircraft that have been reconfigured to seat 30 passengers. JSX emphasizes that the aircraft are quiet and lower emissions, which is not a small point at Santa Monica, where noise and airport politics are always simmering in the background.
Onboard, JSX promises the usual product pitch: business-class legroom, complimentary cocktails, in-seat device charging, and free Starlink Wi-Fi planned for rollout across the ATR fleet during the first quarter of 2026, pending certification. JSX also says tickets include at least two checked bags, including items like golf clubs and ski equipment, subject to size and weight limits.
JSX CEO Alex Wilcox framed the move as a response to demand:
“Expanding our Santa Monica service is a direct response to strong demand for smarter, more seamless regional travel. By increasing frequencies and adding new nonstop routes, we’re giving travelers a faster, more comfortable way to connect to the destinations they love. With increased service to Las Vegas and new nonstop access to Scottsdale, JSX continues to redefine what short haul flying can feel like.”
Tickets are on sale via JSX, with one-way fares from Santa Monica starting at $215 including tax.
JSX Reveals Its Playbook To Resolve The Santa Monica Airport “Issue”
The bigger question, as always at SMO, is durability. JSX may be able to thread the needle using the public charter model and a quieter turboprop, but Santa Monica has been fighting not just to block any service from the historic airport, but shutdown the airport itself. Still, announcing more service before the first flight even departs is a strong signal that JSX sees Santa Monica as more than a one-off experiment…and it seems to me that JSX is laying the groundwork to fight the airports impending closure on December 31, 2028.
The agreement to close the airport was completed in 2017 as part of a Federal Consent Decree with the FAA. That is not my area of expertise in the law, but it will be a tremendous uphill battle to overturn this agreement and would start with a new pro-airport majority on the City Council. As of now, the City Manager just reiterated, “Santa Monica Airport will close at the end of 2028, and nothing about this process with JSX Air changes that fact.”
Even if the airport does close at the end of 2028, that gives JSX three years to operate. Santa Monica plans to turn the airport into a public park.
CONCLUSION
JSX is moving quickly at Santa Monica, expanding service before the first flight even departs.
As I see it, JSX is testing whether demand, community relevance, and operational success can reshape the conversation around an airport many local leaders have already written off.
> Read More: JSX Will Launch ATR 42 Service From Historic Santa Monica Airport
image: JSX
These jabronis are hilarious. They got about 2 years to fly those flights, if they can ever get them going.
It’s still wild that JSX is even able to operate from TEB (to SoFla, including FXE, PBI, and OPF) using the ‘Club JSX’ loophole, which is far more convenient from NYC than HPN.
Flights start tomorrow so it looks pretty promising that these jabronis are going to get it off the ground.
Well then, I wish these jabronis all the best!
It seems that carrying out these flights at SMO, even for a limited time, would be sufficient for JSX management…
“reshape the conversation around an airport many local leaders have already written off.”
The local “leaders” have not “written off” the airport. They’ve been openly crusading to destroy that airport for decades – they just hate airplanes and people who use them.
There are plenty of folks like that who are gunning for the airports near you, too.
LOL… oh no, they’re coming for La Guardia… anyway.
Well, we will see…I would not write off SMO yet.
I’m in the ‘write off SMO’ basket. Just look on a map; it’s surrounded by houses, and LAX is right there. Time to level it, and build some affordable housing and a community center, etc. YIMBY!
SCF actually kind of sucks. It’s further from Old Town than PHX.