more articles like this

SB's New Airport
updated: Jul 11, 2012, 1:27 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

I met a friend at the "new" airport yesterday and was saddened to see what has replaced our precious old one. The new one feels cold and uninviting. I couldn't even visit the gift store since I wasn't flying. I overheard others commenting on how it feels like LA now. Even the gal at the concession stand said 99% of what she hears is negative. Sad.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 296353	2012-07-11 01:31 PM
The blank space above the door BEGS have "Santa Barbara Airport" written on it, but instead is a huge, white, blank eye magnet. Really takes away from the whole look. Otherwise....okay....
COMMENT 296358	2012-07-11 01:37 PM
Does it at least still have that cool ball machine?
COMMENT 296360	2012-07-11 01:38 PM
It's an AIRPORT and functions efficiently in that capacity. And that's fine with me.
COMMENT 296361	2012-07-11 01:40 PM
TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY.
COMMENT 296364	2012-07-11 01:43 PM
I like that it feels more like a real airport and that it now can handle bigger planes because the terminal is on the 2nd floor :) Very efficient & smooth, just don't try to take a whole tube of toothpaste in your carry on bag!
COMMENT 296366	2012-07-11 01:46 PM
I agree it's ugly, efficient and a waste of money. Where are the flights that we were hoping for? Are we ever going to get a flight to San Jose? BTW, the cool ball machine is still there.
COMMENT 296369	2012-07-11 01:47 PM
Way overdone and much more that we need. Also, annoying less convenient than the old airport--you have to walk up to the second floor, then down to the plane. On the way home you have to walk back up to the second floor and down again just to get out. I fly once a month and this is not an improvement.
COMMENT 296370	2012-07-11 01:47 PM
It's lost a lot of its charm, but is soooooo much easier to fly in and out that I'm happy to lose that nostalgic feeling. Everything is more convenient from checking in to walking out the gate. And that's important these days when flying is such an expensive pain in the neck. And I heard the ball machine is still on the patio, but I haven't checked.
COMMENT 296376P	2012-07-11 01:50 PM
I wonder how much of the sterile, "blah" feeling at the airport can be attributed to the alleged airport "director," who won't even return e-mails to citizens regarding valid airport business?
COMMENT 296377	2012-07-11 01:50 PM
Wayyyyyyyy better than the old one!
COMMENT 296378	2012-07-11 01:52 PM
Room to spare unlike the old space that had been outgrown years ago. If you don't get that you hadn't flown when more than two planes were leaving the old airport, just a mess. Things change, sometimes for the better. This is for the better. Love it, great job.
COMMENT 296379	2012-07-11 01:53 PM
The whole thing makes me sad, too. I still recall meeting my husband-to-be out there years and years ago and thinking how lucky we were to have that charming airport.
COMMENT 296381	2012-07-11 01:56 PM
The new airport more then saddens me, I get so upset when I think what a great opportunity we had to build a beautiful airport and instead we have that building. 1. It was a tradition of my family to go have dinner and watch the planes come in and go out....DONE the restaurant is for ticketed passengers only and has no windows to the tarmac. 2. CHEAP - how much was spent on painting beams? Yet the carpet is the cheapest you can find, carpet squares! The seats in the waiting area are ugly and CHEAP the place looks straight off the pages of a KMart or Sears catalog. 3. Founding your way out when you arrive past the ugly, very hard, I guess time to enjoy the ugly cheap. 4. Love walking around the "mound" with kids, luggage & all to get from Baggage to curb. 5. Moving the old Building...dumb Have more but no space!
AQUAHOLIC	2012-07-11 01:57 PM
I'll let you know...this Sunday I fly out of our new airport terminal for the first time....heading to Colorado Springs. Can't wait!
COMMENT 296383P	2012-07-11 02:05 PM
It does feel like an airport in any city now, but at least we don't have to wait for our luggage outside!
COMMENT 296386	2012-07-11 02:08 PM
I honestly had no problem with the new airport. I've flown both many times and still feel its got a much more small town vibe than places like LAX. We flew out of Santa Barbara to LAX and then to Kauai recently, and even Kauai had an airport that rivaled ours in size. By a significant amount, I might add. Complaining about going up stairs and going back down again? Really? Just because carpets use squares does not mean they are "cheap". Interface sells squares as it makes more sense from a modular perspective for office buildings. They are by no means cheap, and were/are one of my favorite companies from a quality/ethics standpoint.
COMMENT 296387	2012-07-11 02:09 PM
The unchanged worst part has to be arriving in the late evening or early morning and being hit by those foul fecal fumes wafting over to UCSB on the land breeze from the adjacent human waste treatment plant. How many more ivory towers have to built and stuffed with overpaid underachieving UCSB profs before they do something?
COMMENT 296396	2012-07-11 02:25 PM
I like it. Flown in and out a number of times. Restaurant and restrooms are convenient for passengers. Waiting areas are comfortable. And, I don't have to worry about my luggage being outside.
COMMENT 296401P	2012-07-11 02:31 PM
That huge white space over the main entrance is so unattractive. It looks like a Space Ship. And, I agree, the seating is HORRIBLE! (Why didn't they use wood benches to give it a more Colonial feel?) More artwork, more wrought iron, and more wood would have added warmth and charm.
DILLYDALLY	2012-07-11 02:32 PM
I like the new airport a lot. The old airport was better in one way only. It looked better from a distance because it was quaint and cute. The new airport is better in so many ways. -No moldy gross carpet and walls. -Infinitely more comfortable to wait for flights. -Way better baggage claim. Inside, out of the elements. -Big enough for the volume. So much so that new flights are being added. We just need a cell phone lot and it would be perfect.
COMMENT 296403	2012-07-11 02:33 PM
It's so much better than the old one. Really, the charm and lack of every modern convenience gets really old when you fly often. It's not even close to feeling "L.A." by any standards. I love it!
COMMENT 296406	2012-07-11 02:37 PM
The best thing about the new terminal is that it was free. It didn't cost us a cent.
COMMENT 296408P	2012-07-11 02:38 PM
Why colonial benches, wrong look and feel for this town. The seats aren't much to look at but aren't bad for sitting in. When it comes to a seat that is easy to clean and keep sanitary while being comfortable I think they did well. Same with the carpet. Overall a much easier airport to travel in and out of especially for business travelers. Never say the city doesn't do anything to help business.
COMMENT 296411	2012-07-11 02:42 PM
The airport's use of space is dismal to grim, the signage even worse. It's lighting is poor, no place to sit and can't even figure out where anyone will come or go without struggling, making bad choices or having to ask someone. What were they thinking? Did they actually track out how people would use this airport? It has zero access or amenities for those coming to pick people up, as if they never even thought this would happen. I would call it a total disaster in planning. Plus it looks like a crushed milk carton for a tower. The parking kiosk is sheer torture to figure out and bring your own flashlight because you cannot read the instructions at night. Total joke. An embarrassment and the people who came in on the flight couldn't figure it out either as they had to walk all over tarnation to get from point A to point B, even though they looked like they were initially close to each other.
COMMENT 296420	2012-07-11 03:01 PM
I am sure you hate the new hospital as well. Sometimes change is necessary AND good!
D8VANILLA	2012-07-11 03:19 PM
I went out there to pick up a friend's Mother, who I had not met before, and it was awful. I got there early, with her name on a hand-held small sign, and waited. I asked United people where she would be coming in after her plane landed and they told me, all passengers would be coming down those stairs.... Well, NOT true. The Mother was waiting outside and said she never came down any stairs... ~~~~~~~~~ Plus, while I was waiting I wanted to check-out the outside sitting area and I could barely get the door open.... waayyy too heavy, with NO automatic "open" button for the handicapped!! ~~~~~~~~ Then, the alarm went off and the workers couldn't get it turned off. ~~~~ In the meantime, lots of Police, Security and other airport employees started coming.... They told me the alarms go off ALL the time, for no apparent reason.... Hated my experience there.
COMMENT 296440	2012-07-11 03:24 PM
Anyone who misses the old airport terminal never had to stand or sit on the floor during the 6 am multiple flight rush through Gates 8 & 9, didn't have to pee (if so, you had to leave the gate area, use the facilities, then clear TSA again), didn't get thirsty (no drinking fountain in the gate areas), and was never hungry (no food in the gate areas). yeah, I really miss the old terminal and those inconveniences.....
COMMENT 296445	2012-07-11 03:32 PM
RE: COMMENT 296420...Sometimes change is necessary AND good! Maybe; but why HERE?
COMMENT 296452	2012-07-11 03:40 PM
25 hears ago I thought the old terminal reminded me of the movie, "Casablanca." The new terminal is more useful, the old is a classic.
COMMENT 296454	2012-07-11 03:48 PM
The old airport did have that Santa Barbara look going for it, but when your nostrils are filled with jet fuel stench and a TSA agent is feeling you up is it really that important to be surrounded by red tile and Spanish architecture?
COMMENT 296458	2012-07-11 03:54 PM
What's suprising about these comments is you all had such a critial eye regarding the new terminal that you failed to notice they're rebuilding the old terminal right next to the new one. It hasn't disappeared, it was dismantled and moved. The old restaurant will return when it's rebuilt. I've flown out of the new termial a few times since it's been open and have no complaints about the access to bathrooms (large ones with many stalls for us ladies) and the access to food and drink while United delays flights. What I'm really excited about is that they're building 5 more gates so hopefully we will have more destinations to fly too! I like the new airport and I'm happy they're making it larger too.
COMMENT 296486	2012-07-11 04:39 PM
Yes they are rebuilding the old terminal. That's the problem.
COMMENT 296488	2012-07-11 04:51 PM
I much prefer the old airport terminal. I don't see why we needed a larger airport when we still don't have basic flights like a nonstop flight to Las Vegas. The old airport looked so much better. It was quaint to pick up the luggage from the tent-like areas.
COMMENT 296490	2012-07-11 05:06 PM
Agree with 488....where is that flight to Vegas and Hawaii...oh yes, we have to go to Santa Maria Airport for that:-)
COMMENT 296500	2012-07-11 05:31 PM
There was no better place to arrive back home than the old terminal. Those who want LAX or SFO glitz are free to relocate to areas that better suit their refined tastes. The new one is not as hateful as I thought it was going to be but I think TSA had more to do with needing a larger facility than any of us air travellers or airlines just itching to give us more flights. The facilities were fine until TSA took over all that space to make us safe or whatever it is they are suppose to be doing. For everyone waiting for the direct flights to Vegas, Hawaii or anywhere other than a hub, don't hold your breath.
COMMENT 296505	2012-07-11 05:44 PM
New airport is so, so much better. Much more efficient and IMHO it still reflects SB style. I can't believe anything but sentiment would cause someone to prefer the old building. It was charming but I spent way too many hours standing at completely full and cramped gates to miss it.
COMMENT 296515	2012-07-11 06:01 PM
It's alright-I do miss the old historic building though, looking at the worn tiles on the floor and thinking about all the travelers that had passed through there over the years. I don't miss walking across the tarmac to get to the plane---that's a nice improvement.
COMMENT 296516	2012-07-11 06:05 PM
296458: The old restaurant is coming back? We can go to the airport again and eat while watching planes come and go??? That's awesome! That was probably my biggest beef with the new place. I come from a family that loves watching planes. My Dad flew in WWII, and held a private pilot's license afterwards, used to take me up in Cessna's. My parents even lived in the flight-path of SBA and DIDN'T MIND THE NOISE AT ALL. I would love to take my toddler to the restaurant when it returns and let him watch planes come and go. :)
COMMENT 296521	2012-07-11 06:13 PM
It appears the airport is fine for those who use it. But it is terrible for those trying to pick someone up. You walk in to the main foyer and are just dumbfounded by the total lack of obvious information - no easy immediate access to the flight info - it is hidden on a side wall. No obvious meeting place. No indication where passengers might be coming out. No place to sit where you can observer incoming passengers. No lighting where you can sit if you have to wait which offers no sight lines to any incoming passengers or information. It is 100% awful for those picking up incoming passengers. What it will do is deter vagrants from coming in and squatting all day long. It is a very hostile environment to welcome anyone to sit and stay a while, even those waiting for incoming planes.
COMMENT 296527	2012-07-11 06:22 PM
We outgrew the old one like you did your old pants.
COMMENT 296538	2012-07-11 07:20 PM
Some of these comments are truly entertaining. It reminds me of a lady in the security line in front of me awhile back who was quite upset with a TSA agent because she had to remove her hat, trying in vain to explain that she had just had her hair done. After all, it is all about you, right?
COMMENT 296540	2012-07-11 07:31 PM
I like it. Everything is a million times more efficient and the stairwell and some other features are wonderful. Clearly the OP doesn't fly much. For those of us that do the new airport is a blessing.
MTNDRIVER	2012-07-11 07:34 PM
Seems to me that a lot of the complaints about the design of the new terminal have to do with things that are related to security--food outlets just for passengers, areas for meeting passengers not friendly, no place for the public to enjoy themselves, etc. I'm sure there were design requirements that had to be met in that regard that we know nothing about. No US airport now that I know of lets "the public" come in and shop or eat. It's a shame, but that's the world we live in at present. That said, I preferred the old terminal, but really for style reasons, not convenience. I loved it that it was funky and not super high-tech, friendly, with a small town SB feel. It had charm, character. I could have lived with it forever! But I've flown out of the new one three times now, and flown back to it, and it works fine. I love it that there are bathrooms near the gates, and that you can get COFFEE after going through security (while waiting for your late United flight, as someone else mentioned). It still feels like a small town airport. And I like the mosaics and the tilework, and the look of the front of the terminal. I've had no trouble finding people I'm picking up, or having people find me when I've flown in. It was bound to happen, and I think they did a good job.
COMMENT 296543	2012-07-11 07:43 PM
Some people will never be happy.
COMMENT 296555P	2012-07-11 08:10 PM
New airport is spacious, but expecting more flights to more destinations seems unlikely. New airport seems generic, lacks charm, though it seems efficient. Arriving bags come through a narrow area, one can't see the bag handlers - seems impersonal. It was inevitable a newer terminal would be built - it seems though a little more gracious style wouldn't have added to the high cost. We're all paying for the airport whether it seems like it or not.
SHAGGY	2012-07-11 08:20 PM
Airports are for Air Travel, they are not shopping malls or hotel lobbies. The new airport is terrific. I travel at least 1 time per week out of the airport and the improvements were very necessary. Gate Areas are spacious,restrooms and food service are a welcome site after security. Jetways are also appreciated in the rainy season. Every airport out there has become less "folksy" because of security issues. The design of this airport is welcoming and I am proud to pick up my guests there who are also impressed.No one likes change especially in SB
SCEPTIC	2012-07-11 10:45 PM
MTNDRIVER: I got my pilot's license and ratings through the UCSB flying club in the 70's, and flew privately owned aircraft tied down next to the terminal for years. Security for commercial air carriers is federal law, although we've had incidents that demonstrate that in practice it doesn't always provide security . Privately owned aircraft aren't subject to the same TSA regs - I think it would be difficult to get an explosive device on a commercial carrier, for instance, but I don't know if it would be difficult for a private pilot to fly over a commercial carrier and drop one or fly into one. Based on my info from news sources, though, I think people with connections to terrorist org's walking or driving across the US/Mexico border could be more important than risks related to aviation - other than airline transport pilots with mental health issues, at least. In any case, it seems to me that successful terrorist attacks rely on the element of surprise, so any high-profile security is an oxymoron. So far, the new terminal is as hostile and uninviting as the new Cottage Hospital. I hope there's a 2nd story restaurant with a view of the runways - a great opportunity for people 4 feet tall and under to fantasize about flying one of those things out there. I haven't seen the new airport, but I'm sure glad George Rhoad's kinetic ball sculpture is returning. I miss the old terminal a lot, but primarily due to emotional memories - hitting birds on takeoff on 2 occasions, both unavoidable "acts of God", then having ATC frequently ask if God wanted me to fly that day for months following the incidents, jamming the stick back during run-up in an aerobatic taildragger and hearing an anguished scream from an old friend in the back who has fathered no children since then (or prior to this), etc. Things change - the city of Santa Barbara will forever be stuck with "mission style" stucco and red tile roofs because this type of architecture was what Pearle Chase saw standing following the 2 major earthquakes that leveled most of SB in the 20's, although it's now more reminiscent of Orange County tract developments than SB history. I think a lot of good effort has been spent on the new airport terminal, and I'm happy that most of the comments here support that effort.
COMMENT 296586P	2012-07-12 12:24 AM
I am mixed as a frequent traveller with 50 some trips last year out of SBA, about the same amount this year probably it is a nicer terminal without a doubt. The part I am mixed is when I think of the 54 million dollar pricetag. It seems the items people like bathrooms, a food option beyond TSA, more seating, and the need for enhanced TSA area could have been accomplished for 10-14 million dollars using the old terminal footprint. They seem to have just gone overboard and didn't think it through. The terminal isn't free the costs will be passed on to traveller's and the airlines. The same airlines that are slashing routes and abandoning smaller markets, we lost Delta, AA has left other airports in California and may do more, Frontier seems to teeter every year as to whether they go under. If one of them goes the cost rises for the traveller and remaining airlines who if the cost effectiveness is effective leave or cut back. The industry is rethinking their commuter models and those changes may affect us why the airport chose to spend that much without looking at the industry seems reckless, but yeah its a nice terminal.
COMMENT 296610P	2012-07-12 07:29 AM
I've taken and picked people up and like the new airport, especially since they're encompassing the old building into the design. The last time I was there, the parking still had to be finessed, but that's okay. It sure beats LAX.
COMMENT 296634P	2012-07-12 08:19 AM
I think it is horrible. It doesn't look like SB at all and is not feasible at all.
ARCHIE	2012-07-12 08:57 AM
I think the new airport is beautiful and marvel each time I'm there that only in Santa Barbara would such a utilitarian function have the many gracious, charming, and expertly designed features.
FANGIRL	2012-07-12 09:00 AM
I think it looks fantastic and fits right in to SB. I love the fact that they have incorporated bits of the old airport into the new one (i.e., airplane sculpture to the left of the baggage pickup). I was there last week picking up someone and the Santa Barbara Airport sign was there across the front entrance. I think it reflects our town well. Looking forward to the short term parking lot being finished and open!
COMMENT 296668P	2012-07-12 09:18 AM
Inserting a little more charm shouldn't be all that costly or complicated...the huge white wall over the main entrance and the cavernous foyer could certainly use some detail...the Courthouse serves as a perfect model...huge yet charming.
COMMENT 296701P	2012-07-12 09:54 AM
Hate the new airport--what a waste of somebody's money. I loved our sweet, quaint personal one. How much money spent for useless security that spent 10 minutes on looking through some antique brass pieces I had in my luggage, just in case it was a terrorist weapon. Please. I'm a 60-year-old white-haired woman. The whole thing seems like a big boondoggle. LOVE the new Cottage hospital. They've done a terrific job there.
COMMENT 296737P	2012-07-12 10:36 AM
Now just another echoing cookie cutter airport inside, with towers and tiles and windows whose shapes and styles are all jumbled up architecturally. I miss the eclectic little newspaper/sundries store. And then there's that gloomy mural when you go up the escalator in a huge echoing building. Even the horse is frowning! I noticed that when the luggage was being unloaded from the cart to the passenger pick-up area, the handler now had to twist and fling each bag, because the new door does not raise high enough for him to insert his upper body slightly and place the bags. I asked him and he said it was an ergonomic problem the designers should have caught, and that yes, it hurts his back.
MARCMCGINNES	2012-07-12 02:45 PM
The design is simply awful, and those who approved it really let us down. You can read their names on the tiles they had placed on the wall as a woeful tribute to themselves. The peaked-arch feature is all wrong and when combined with a barracks-like blockhouse and that stubby domed tower/whatsit, the result is a hideous mish-mashed-mixtup-mess. Pray that a huge hood-ornament style set of glass wings is not plunked down in front so as to make the whole thing a truly world-famous example of utter, overwhelming kitsch.
KATYDID	2012-07-12 10:43 PM
I really hate the "new" airport and agree with others that it was a terrible waste of money. I have found it to be slower and less efficient than the"old" airport, and there's not even a place to get a cup of coffee or a drink with a friend before they take a flight. Completely lacking any kind of charm, this could be an airport anywhere. So sad. Not well thought out at all, in my opinion. I wish they had just left well enough alone.
COMMENT 297895P	2012-07-15 06:36 PM
I love that there are three complaints that were deleted and none of them had a two hour time delay.

38% of comments on this page were made by Edhat Community Members.

*** 3 comments were deleted from this thread by the Edhat Board Nanny for violating Edhat Comments Board policy. Click Here to see them.

Comments on this thread are only open to Community Members.

# # # #