Delta Air Lines launched daily nonstop service between Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport, landing its inaugural flight on Tuesday morning. The new route restores the regional facility’s commercial lineup to four active airlines while introducing the airport’s first curbside passenger and baggage check-in option.
Delta flight 3541, a 76-seat Embraer E-175 two-engine regional jet, touched down at 10:26 a.m. carrying 52 passengers following an hour and 45-minute trip from Utah, according to the airline and Flightradar24 data. The return flight departed just before noon with 59 passengers booked. A second daily rotation, Delta flight 3533, arrived in Santa Rosa shortly before 4 p.m. with 45 passengers aboard and carried 27 passengers back to Salt Lake City, the airline reported.
Airport Infrastructure and Curbside Innovation
The arrival of Delta brings a new carrier alongside Alaska, American, and Southwest airlines at the Sonoma County terminal. To manage growing passenger volume, Delta rolled out curbside passenger and baggage check-in, a first for the airport, according to Airport Manager Jon Stout. The airline positioned a check-in podium underneath a tent just north of the terminal along the main walkway, where passengers utilized the service on Tuesday morning.
Stout noted that the airport’s ticket counters are operating near full capacity with limited queuing space for carriers. Consequently, the airport hopes to eventually expand curbside check-in to other airlines, potentially via a shared contract with costs allocated based on passenger volume. “And if it’s a big success for Delta, I could see other carriers being interested in that service,” Stout said.
Regional Airline Shifts and Salt Lake City Connections
The new Delta route arrives as other carriers adjust their schedules in Santa Rosa. Alaska Airlines, the airport’s largest commercial carrier, had previously announced plans in May for a nonstop link to Salt Lake City beginning Nov. 1, but recently dropped the route. Salt Lake City International Airport serves as a major hub for Delta, handling roughly 70% of the facility’s traffic, more than 300 daily departures to over 100 destinations, and approximately 28 million passengers last year, with 10 ski resorts located within an hour’s drive.
In addition to altering its Salt Lake City plans, Alaska is ending its service between Sonoma County and Ontario at the end of the month, though direct flights to Boise and Phoenix remain on schedule to launch Nov. 1. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines, which began limited weekly flights to Denver in April, plans to ramp up flight frequency ahead of full daily service on that route by March 11, 2027.
Wine Takes Flight Program and Loyalty Perks
Alongside the flight launch, Delta introduced its Wine Takes Flight program on Tuesday, allowing eligible SkyMiles members to check one case of wine free of charge on qualifying flights originating from Sonoma County and four other Northern California airports: Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento. The complimentary case can hold up to 12 unopened 750-milliliter bottles and weigh a maximum of 50 pounds.
The offering mirrors Alaska Airlines’ established Wine Flies Free program, which launched in 2018 and permits qualifying loyalty members to check a case of wine without baggage fees across 34 West Coast airports in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, alongside a similar program operated by Southwest.
