Boutique U.S. airline JSX is expanding at the 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 Feb. 5, the airline will increase its offerings to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas from once a day to thrice daily.
“Expanding our Santa Monica service is a direct response to strong demand for smarter, more seamless 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 comfortable way to connect to the destinations they love."
What he did not say is the new SMO flights are only possible with JSX’s newest plane: the ATR 42-600 turboprop. Service began on Dec. 19 with a once-daily turn between SMO and LAS.
Outfitted with just 30 seats like the JSX's Embraer ERJ regional jets, Wilcox said in September that the turboprops need only half the runway space, and burn half the amount of fuel as the Embraer jets. Yet, these planes double the number of airports the airline can serve.
The question, however, is whether American flyers — especially those at the luxury end of the market that JSX caters to — will take to flying on turboprops again.
Turboprops were once standard on U.S. regional routes but were replaced by larger regional jets beginning in the 1990s. Alaska Airlines was the latest major carrier with turboprops in its feeder fleet until its affiliate Horizon Air retired its last De Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q400 in January 2023.
"We need to prove that our customers will get on a turboprop airplane," Wilcox said in September. "For the reasons I already outlined — because it’s going to be so much more convenient to them, because the airports we’re going to choose for it are so much closer to where they live and where they want to go — I’m supremely confident it's going to happen but we still need to prove it before we can put real money behind it."
The fact that JSX is already expanding its ATR network signals that, while the planes maybe are not necessarily a success yet, the airline does see opportunity with them and is willing to invest in making the ATRs a success.
Wilcox said in September that the carrier plans to eventually add Telluride Regional Airport (TEX) in Colorado and Truckee Tahoe Airport (TKF) in California to its map with the turboprops in the future.
Unfortunately, while JSX partner United Airlines does allow MileagePlus point redemptions on JSX-operated flights, neither the SMO-LAS nor the SMO-SCF flights are shown as available for purchase with points on United's website.
Flyers 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 JSX’s website.
