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You either love or hate the drive from L.A. to Las Vegas, and you’re almost surely on the “hate” side if you’ve ever left on a Friday night or come home on a Sunday afternoon. High-speed rail is still a couple of years away and most flights can be a hassle; the considerable time spent getting to the airport and through security whittles down the advantage over the five-hour drive.
So how about showing up only 20 minutes before your flight and jetting off to Vegas from a private terminal—located, not at LAX, but in Santa Monica. That’s exactly what JSX is offering: The public charter operator launched a daily flight from Santa Monica Airport to Harry Reid International Airport in December, and on January 22 it’ll start to offer two Vegas flights per day as well as service to Scottsdale Airport in Arizona. (It’ll add a third Vegas flight starting February 5.)
The Santa Monica aspect of the service is by far the most novel part: The single-runway, nearly 103-year-old Santa Monica Airport was once home to the bygone Douglas Aircraft Company, but for decades has served as a general aviation airport, a public-use facility mainly for enthusiasts and private jets—not commercial service. It also happens to be right in the middle of a relatively wealthy residential area, and after years of complaints about noise, safety and pollution, in the 2010s both Santa Monica voters and the FAA agreed to shutter the airport and turn it into a public park.
As such, JSX’s lease with the City of Santa Monica only runs until late 2028, when the airport is expected to permanently close. But until then, you’ll be able to roll up to a private hangar on the runway’s north side, walk through a breezy security process and board an ATR 42-600—a turboprop; the operator otherwise uses jets at other airports—with a business class–like 1-1 seating layout.
JSX already operates quite a few routes out of Hollywood Burbank Airport (from a hangar on the southwest side of the airport) and LAX (in a hangar on the south side of the runway, just off of Sepulveda Boulevard but mostly spared from the area’s nightmarish traffic backups). But the Santa Monica service provides a much, much closer air travel option for many Westsiders.
Of course, convenience comes at a little bit of a premium: Flights from Santa Monica to Vegas start at $175 while the Scottsdale route begins at $229 (the other two JSX locations in L.A. are the same price). For comparison, you can book a flight from LAX to Vegas on a no-frills commercial airline for less than $40, while pricing for major carriers starts around $60; for flights out of Burbank, that’s closer to $90. That said, JSX’s fares include two checked bags, as well as complimentary snacks and drinks; parking (valet only) at SMO costs $30 per day.