US boutique airline JSX will expand at Santa Monica Airport (SMO) in January, a month after launching its only commercial flights to the airport.
JSX said the quasi-private public charter operator will add daily flights to Scottsdale Airport (SCF) near Phoenix on January 22, 2026. The airline will then increase flights to Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) from one daily to three daily flights on February 5.
“Expanding our Santa Monica service is a direct response to strong demand for smarter, more seamless regional travel,” JSX CEO Alex Wilcox said in a statement. “By increasing frequency and adding new nonstop routes, we are giving travelers a faster, more comfortable way to travel to their favorite destinations.”
What he didn’t say was that the new SMO flights could only use JSX’s newest aircraft: the ATR 42-600 turboprop. The service started operating on December 19 with daily services between SMO and LAS.
Like JSX’s Embraer ERJ regional jets, the Wilcox is equipped with only 30 seats, and Wilcox said in September that the turboprop requires half the runway space and burns half as much fuel as the Embraer jet. However, these aircraft double the number of airports the airline can serve.
The question, however, is whether American passengers—especially those at the high end of the market that JSX serves—will choose to fly on a turboprop again.
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Turboprops were once the standard on U.S. regional routes but were replaced by larger regional jets starting in the 1990s. Alaska Airlines is the latest major airline to have turboprop aircraft in its regional fleet until subsidiary Horizon Air retires its last de Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q400 in January 2023.
“We need to prove that our customers will fly in turboprops,” Wilcox said in September. “For the reasons I’ve outlined – because it’s going to be more convenient for them because the airports we’re going to choose are closer to where they live and where they want to go – I’m very confident that’s going to happen, but we still need to prove that before we can put real money into it.”
The fact that JSX is already expanding its ATR network shows that while these aircraft may not necessarily be successful yet, the airline does see an opportunity with them and is willing to invest to make ATR 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 for future use of turboprop aircraft.
Unfortunately, while JSX partner United allows the use of MileagePlus points for redemption on JSX-operated flights, the United website does not show that SMO-LAS and SMO-SCF flights can be purchased with points.
Travelers who fly with JSX can earn Club JSX Rewards (the airline’s own loyalty program), JetBlue TrueBlue points or United MileagePlus points.
According to the JSX website, one-way flights in January start at $215 from SMO to LAS and $279 from SMO to SCF.
