Rockford, Peoria and UPS (Updated)



United Parcel Service (UPS) established an air cargo hub at Rockford in 1994. I always wondered if Peoria was a contender for this operation. 

By the mid-1980s, rapid growth in air cargo volume at then-Greater Peoria Airport spurred dreams of being an air cargo hub. A new master plan drawn up in 1987 called for development of a large air cargo complex in the airport's southeast quadrant. 

PIA's dream was a good one, but it never came close to happening. A bid for designation at the United States Postal Service hub failed in 1989 and 1991 and a failed effort to lure DHL in 1996-1998 prompted the State of Illinois to pass supporting legislation. 

In between Peoria's USPS and DHL efforts, UPS developed a hub at then-Greater Rockford Airport. It began in 1993 as a temporary Christmas rush hub to support a large volume of seasonal shipments by Land's End, a clothing, luggage and home furnishing retailer based in Dodgeville, Wisconsin (west of Madison). 

The Rockford hub was made permanent when a new 500,000 sq. ft. sorting facility opened in late 1994. Initially, UPS operated 15 flights out of there each night. Within a decade, that number had doubled. Although actual volume has been up and down since that time, the company's decision this spring to close its Des Moines hub and shift an average of 13 weekly flights to Rockford beginning July 16 bodes well for the future. 

At present, UPS links Rockford with Anchorage, Baltimore, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Hartford, Houston (Intercont'l), Kansas City, Louisville, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York (JFK), Newark, Ontario, Peoria, Philadelphia, Portland (OR), Seattle/Tacoma (Boeing Field). During the December Christmas rush, multiple extra flights are operated day and night. 

The Christmas rush is said to peak on December 20. This year, I took the opportunity to capture arriving and departing UPS hub flights, as well as other airline activity (Allegiant Air and Amazon.com's Prime Air). See video above. 

Do I believe UPS considered Peoria for a Midwest hub? I doubt they did. Proximity to Chicagoland was in Rockford's favor for once. Rockford has been promoting this for awhile now. Its airport was unofficially marked as "Northwest Chicagoland Regional Airport" from 2003. A year later, "International" replaced "Regional," but it was still officially "Greater Rockford Airport," as it had been since opening in 1947. Today, it is known as "Chicago-Rockford International Airport."

It is a good thing though that UPS ended up flying to Peoria. After acquiring Menlo Worldwide's heavy air freight business in 2005, that carrier's Dayton (OH) hub was closed and consolidated with Louisville, where UPS has long operated its largest hub. Today, UPS A300F4-600 aircraft (and occasionally a 767-300 or 757-200) stop at Peoria at least four times a week in each direction between Louisville and Rockford.

UPDATE (Dec. 24, 2017) - The third scene is actually a duplicate of the fifth scene. The actual United Parcel Service Flight #2032 can be seen here.


- David P. Jordan

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