Celebrating Three Million Passengers Aboard the Santa Barbara Airbus

LAX Shuttles, Special Dodgers Day Trips, Private Chartering, and More All on the Bus

Operations Manager Tim Onnen, left, and CEO Samantha Onnen | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

From travels stretching from Goleta down to the Los Angeles International Airport and everything in between, the Santa Barbara Airbus has been chartering people up and down the Central Coast. This April, they are preparing to celebrate their 42nd anniversary, which just so happens to coincide around the time of Airbus’s three millionth passenger trip.

“It’s just amazing to think that there have been three million people that have ridden on a bus, branded by Santa Barbara Airbus over 42 years,” said Airbus CEO Samantha Onnen. “It is just mind-blowing.”

Established in 1983 by founders Eric and Kelly Onnen and their friend Mark Klopstein, the Santa Barbara Airbus originally started because Kelly was working as a flight attendant and needed to travel to LAX regularly. What started as one van making roundtrips from Goleta to LAX has now grown to its current size of about 20 vehicles in their fleet.

A welcome sign for Santa Barbara Airbus | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

Today, the Onnens’ daughters Samantha and Emily have taken the reins of the family business and are preparing for the upcoming milestones. Samantha has been in the business for about 10 years now and is transitioning to take over as CEO of the company. Emily joined as the Chief Strategy Officer a couple of years ago.

“It’s really been a labor of love that has been really committed to [our] vision, which is to make the community better through passenger transportation,” Samantha said. “We want to make sure that we make a positive impact where we are.”

To celebrate over four decades of service and this passenger milestone, the Onnens want to recognize the staff that has been working with them over the years. They pointed out that many staff members have been with the Santa Barbara Airbus for double digit years and continue to return to travel with new and familiar faces. At the same time, recognizing the feat of chartering three million passengers back and forth along the Central Coast calls for celebration as well.

“We have a team that we really owe a significant amount of appreciation to for their commitment to us as an organization,” Emily said.

The expansion of the Airbus fleet is a reflection of how the family business has grown. They offer different services for various occasions, with the LAX shuttle running nearly everyday of the year (with exceptions on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day) with eight roundtrips a day. There are pickup/drop-off spots in Goleta, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, and Camarillo, making travel much easier for those flying in and out of LAX.

“We get to be just a little part of people’s experience,” Samantha said. “One of the best compliments that I’ve heard is when people get to the airport after a long travel day and they see the bus pull up and go, ‘I’m home, I’m done.’”

Tim Onnen and Samantha Onnen hold up the numbers four and two, to celebrate their company’s milestone | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

Part of the Onnens’ work is to ensure that they are staying on top of federal guidelines but also anticipating upcoming changes so that passengers won’t have to worry about the bus travel logistics. This has included a continued look for sustainable bus options and encouraging people to take the bus to avoid having more cars on the road to L.A., especially in traffic and construction heavy areas.

Although there was a temporary pause in travel during COVID, the Airbus has been working to expand its scope of trips based on passenger interest, which is where the special day trips and reservations come into play.

The most popular is the Dodgers Day Trip, where passengers can reserve a bus ticket and game ticket in one. All things transportation are organized by the Santa Barbara Airbus. The same goes for other special day trips, which have included trips to the Getty Museum and the Pantages Theatre. Coming up is a trip to the Reagan Library to see the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“It’s nice to have variety within the fleet too. So depending on what the customers’ needs are, we aren’t just one size for everything,” Emily explained. This also applies to their private charter buses, which are available for reservation. They’ve chartered for events including high school proms, birthdays, school trips, and much more. Doing so has meant getting the opportunity to meet many people in the community and watch as people return for more trips with the Airbus.

The growth in busses and bus sizes is partly due to outreach and community involvement that the Airbus staff are involved with. All staff members are involved in some way or another, something that the Onnens take great pride in. Their Community Outreach Program also works with community groups to determine how the Airbus can support their needs.

“You have adventures every single day, no day is the same,” Samantha said. She recalled stories of working with high schools to organize college visits, but also partnering with local nonprofits.

As the Airbus reaches another milestone, Samantha and Emily voiced their enthusiasm to keep looking toward new goals in expanding their outreach to the community but also to new places to travel and potentially create new regular trips

“Santa Barbara Airbus will show up. We will show up, and we will do a good job,” Emily emphasized. The community support and enthusiasm from staff is a testament to the environment they have created and the continued growth for the business.

For more information about the Santa Barbara Airbus, upcoming trips and other information about private charters, visit sbairbus.com.