By Henry Dubroff Monday, October 11th, 2010

At Santa Barbara Municipal Airport these days, construction crews are making progress on a $60  million expansion. When it opens next spring, the airport will get a new, two-story terminal, waiting areas that actually have bathrooms and five gates served by jetways.

Thirteen hundred miles away in Dallas, the nation’s most profitable airline is also in the middle of a makeover. Discount leader Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is merging with AirTran in a $1.4 billion deal that will bring Southwest 86 smaller Boeing 717 jets to serve new markets.

Is this a deal that might create an aviation version of an eHarmony match? Talk of a SBA-SWA hookup certainly is in the air.

The full version of this column is only available in the print edition. To view everything the Business Times offers, see this week’s print version or SUBSCRIBE to the print edition for $49.99 today.