American boutique airline JSX will expand at Santa Monica Airport (SMO) in January, a month after launching the airport’s only commercial flights.
The quasi-private public charter operator will add a daily flight to Scottsdale Airport (SCF) near Phoenix on Jan. 22, 2026, JSX said. Then, on February 5, the airline will increase its offerings to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas from once a day to three times a day.
“Expanding our service to Santa Monica is a direct response to strong demand for smarter, smoother regional travel,” Alex Wilcox, CEO of JSX, said in a statement. “By increasing frequencies and adding new nonstop routes, we’re giving travelers a faster, more convenient way to connect to the destinations they love.”
What he didn’t say is that the new SMO flights are only possible with JSX’s newest aircraft: the ATR 42-600 turboprop. The service began on December 19 with a daily transfer between SMO and LAS.
Equipped with just 30 seats like the JSX’s Embraer ERJ regional jets, Wilcox said in September that the turboprops only need half the runway space and burn half the amount of fuel like Embraer planes. However, these planes double the number of airports the airline can reach.
The question, however, is whether American travelers, especially those in the luxury segment of the market that JSX serves, will return to flying with turboprops.
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Turboprops were once standard on US regional routes, but were replaced by larger regional aircraft starting in the 1990s. Alaska Airlines was the last major airline with turboprops in its feeder fleet until its subsidiary Horizon Air retired its last de Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q400 in January 2023.
“We need to demonstrate that our customers will get on a turboprop airplane,” Wilcox said in September. “For the reasons I already described (because it will be much more convenient for them, because the airports we will choose are much closer to where they live and where they want to go), I am extremely confident that this will happen, but we still have to prove it before we can invest real money in it.”
The fact that JSX is already expanding its ATR network indicates that while the planes may not necessarily be a success yet, the airline does see opportunities in them and is willing to invest in making ATRs a success.
Wilcox said in September that the airline plans to eventually add Telluride Regional Airport (TEX) in Colorado and Truckee Tahoe Airport (TKF) in California to its map with turboprops in the future.
Unfortunately, although JSX partner United Airlines does allow MileagePlus Point Redemptions On flights operated by JSX, neither SMO-LAS nor SMO-SCF flights are shown as available for purchase with points on the United website.
Travelers can earn Club JSX rewards (the airline’s own loyalty program), JetBlue TrueBlue points or United MileagePlus points on JSX flights.
For one-way flights in January, fares start at $215 from SMO to LAS and $279 from SMO to SCF, according to the JSX website.
