[3][full citation needed] Earl Thomson, along with his brothers-in-law, William "Chris" and David Hoover, talked county officials into leasing them the land for an airport.

[citation needed] During World War II the federal government took over the airport: From 1938 until 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps and the California National Guard used 218 acres as an aerial observation training center; In 1940 the War Department added hard surface runways and lights, barracks, hangars, and mechanic shops.

[citation needed] In 1975, after ending service to Paso Robles the year before, Hughes Airwest was operating McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s to nearby Santa Maria Public Airport to serve the San Luis Obispo area; these nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco soon ended.

America West Express (Mesa Airlines) began flying de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8s to Phoenix in April 1999.

On August 27, 2008, US Airways Express flown by Mesa Airlines announced an expansion of service at San Luis Obispo.

[9] In January 2009, a charter Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-400 arrived at SBP from Chico and was the largest aircraft ever to land at San Luis.

In October 2015, ground was broken on a new passenger terminal; it was expected that increases in the regional population and tourism would attract more service to the airport.

On September 4, 2019, Alaska Airlines announced daily flights with the ERJ-175 to Portland, Oregon (starting on June 17, 2021), and San Diego.

However, an investigation ordered by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board[15] and conducted by a third-party engineering firm found that the airport was not the source of contamination.

An estimated 48 residents had already filed claims against the county for negligence, even though the investigation concluded that the San Luis Obispo Regional Airport was not the source.

[16] The airport covers 340 acres (138 ha) and has two runways: A new passenger terminal replaced the older, smaller facility towards the north end of the airfield.

[19] On July 17, 2013, US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines resumed Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet 900 (CRJ-900) nonstop service to San Luis Obispo from Phoenix.

[23] On April 7, 2015, SkyWest Airlines operating as United Express began flying Canadair CRJ-200s on all flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco, replacing Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias as they moved the type into retirement, so all scheduled passenger airline flights at San Luis Obispo are now operated with regional jets for the first time.

[27] Delta briefly operated a CRJ-200 between San Luis Obispo and Salt Lake City International Airport between 2007 and 2008, until shelving the flights due to the national recession.

[28] American Airlines is currently operating mainline Airbus A319 jetliners on nonstop service between San Luis Obispo and its hub in Dallas/Fort Worth while American Eagle serves nonstop services between the airport and Phoenix–Sky Harbor which is operated by both Envoy Air with Embraer 175 regional jets and SkyWest Airlines with Canadair CRJ-700 regional jets.

[12][23] The airport is located along Broad Street (State Route 227) at Aero Drive, southeast of Downtown San Luis Obispo.