Residents react to new United flights at Carlsbad airport

CARLSBAD, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) -- The McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad isn’t so sleepy anymore and, in a few months, could be wide awake if new commuter flights announced from United Airlines are approved.

United has proposed two daily round-trip flights to San Francisco and two daily round-trip flights to Denver. The airline has indicated no flights would take off before 7:30 a.m. and the last flight home would be before 9:50 p.m.

Community groups have already started to push back against these proposed flights, with the group "Citizens for a Friendly Neighborhood Airport" saying these flights would reject the airline’s own conditional use permits.

The debate around town seems to stand somewhere between noise complaints versus convenience.

While there are many pushing back against the idea of consistent E175 passenger jets rolling through the skies of Carlsbad, others were far more positive about the idea of conveniently rolling into a small airport with world travel in reach.

If United Airlines gets speedy approval, there could be planes in the air as early as March 2026. The County of San Diego will have the final say on the future of the proposal.