PIA - A History: Events of 1982
Many Peorians still recall the good old days when they could board an Ozark DC-9 and fly to the likes of Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Tampa and Washington, DC (later Baltimore) without changing planes.
Those good old days ended in 1981-1982.
ANALYSIS
It is clear that the re-introduction of service here by TWA and reduced service as a consequence of the PATCO strike permanently, but pre-maturely, cut Ozark's schedule. So one might ask: How long would it have lasted otherwise?
Ozark's decision to end its last roundtrip between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) on October 25, 1981 was forced upon it due to FAA regulations designed to minimize congestion. Unknown is when this would have occurred if not for the PATCO walkout. Ozark had dropped its last Moline to Chicago-O'Hare roundtrip on July 1, 1981. Weekday Champaign/Urbana to Chicago-O'Hare flights apparently ended with the strike or shortly thereafter. The airline maintained a weekday-only ORD-SPI-DEC-ORD flight until February 1, 1982. Ozark linked Rockford with Chicago-O'Hare until March 1982 with flights operating ORD-RFD-SUX-FSD.
Interestingly, Ozark continued to offer daily nonstops between Chicago and Rochester, Minnesota and Waterloo, Des Moines and Sioux City, Iowa until fall 1983. These longer flights ensured both connecting and origin and destination traffic, and save for Des Moines and Rochester, had no other jet competition. So Peoria service would likely have been dropped shortly anyway, probably well before fall 1983. One long term effect was that for many years forward, "loss of jet service to Chicago" became a familiar mantra for the decline in the quality of air service here.
The PIA-CMI-BWI-LGA route endured as long as it did because it was profitable, but load factors were insufficient to continue under FAA restrictions brought on by the PATCO strike. How long would it have continued had PATCO not called a strike? At least another year, because the service was soon revived in modified form. More on that later.
But there was another factor to consider. The American economy re-entered recessionary conditions in July 1981 as the Federal Reserve continued its tight monetary policy.
Nineteen-Eighty One saw record sales for Peoria-based construction equipment maker Caterpillar Tractor Co. but as 1982 dawned, the outlook soured quickly. Caterpillar had built Model 594 pipelayers valued at $85 million that were needed to construct a pipeline from Siberia to western Europe. The machines had already been built, but the company itself funded construction until delivery. Then in late-December 1981, sanctions on the Soviet Union included these machines. Throughout 1982, Caterpillar laid off 10,000 local workers due to the poor economy, declining exports amid a strong dollar and rising foreign competition. The downturn affected company business travel, so Peoria's four airlines, having cut service as a consequence of the PATCO strike, had little incentive to increase service.
The recession, which resulted in nearly 11 percent nationwide unemployment by the fall of 1982, would have killed off much of Ozark's Peoria service. TWA and the PATCO strike only accelerated what would have happened in a short time anyway.
OZARK AIR LINES EMPHASIZES ST. LOUIS
Let's start with Ozark Air Lines' weekday departures as shown in its December 1, 1981 timetable.
Cedar Rapids/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to RST & MSP)
Champaign-Urbana/2 flights, DC-9, DC-9
Those good old days ended in 1981-1982.
ANALYSIS
It is clear that the re-introduction of service here by TWA and reduced service as a consequence of the PATCO strike permanently, but pre-maturely, cut Ozark's schedule. So one might ask: How long would it have lasted otherwise?
Ozark's decision to end its last roundtrip between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) on October 25, 1981 was forced upon it due to FAA regulations designed to minimize congestion. Unknown is when this would have occurred if not for the PATCO walkout. Ozark had dropped its last Moline to Chicago-O'Hare roundtrip on July 1, 1981. Weekday Champaign/Urbana to Chicago-O'Hare flights apparently ended with the strike or shortly thereafter. The airline maintained a weekday-only ORD-SPI-DEC-ORD flight until February 1, 1982. Ozark linked Rockford with Chicago-O'Hare until March 1982 with flights operating ORD-RFD-SUX-FSD.
Interestingly, Ozark continued to offer daily nonstops between Chicago and Rochester, Minnesota and Waterloo, Des Moines and Sioux City, Iowa until fall 1983. These longer flights ensured both connecting and origin and destination traffic, and save for Des Moines and Rochester, had no other jet competition. So Peoria service would likely have been dropped shortly anyway, probably well before fall 1983. One long term effect was that for many years forward, "loss of jet service to Chicago" became a familiar mantra for the decline in the quality of air service here.
The PIA-CMI-BWI-LGA route endured as long as it did because it was profitable, but load factors were insufficient to continue under FAA restrictions brought on by the PATCO strike. How long would it have continued had PATCO not called a strike? At least another year, because the service was soon revived in modified form. More on that later.
But there was another factor to consider. The American economy re-entered recessionary conditions in July 1981 as the Federal Reserve continued its tight monetary policy.
Nineteen-Eighty One saw record sales for Peoria-based construction equipment maker Caterpillar Tractor Co. but as 1982 dawned, the outlook soured quickly. Caterpillar had built Model 594 pipelayers valued at $85 million that were needed to construct a pipeline from Siberia to western Europe. The machines had already been built, but the company itself funded construction until delivery. Then in late-December 1981, sanctions on the Soviet Union included these machines. Throughout 1982, Caterpillar laid off 10,000 local workers due to the poor economy, declining exports amid a strong dollar and rising foreign competition. The downturn affected company business travel, so Peoria's four airlines, having cut service as a consequence of the PATCO strike, had little incentive to increase service.
The recession, which resulted in nearly 11 percent nationwide unemployment by the fall of 1982, would have killed off much of Ozark's Peoria service. TWA and the PATCO strike only accelerated what would have happened in a short time anyway.
OZARK AIR LINES EMPHASIZES ST. LOUIS
Let's start with Ozark Air Lines' weekday departures as shown in its December 1, 1981 timetable.
Cedar Rapids/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to RST & MSP)
Champaign-Urbana/2 flights, DC-9, DC-9
Indianapolis/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to BNA & TPA)
Minneapolis-St. Paul/1 flight, DC-9
St. Louis/2 flights, DC-9 (continues to LGA), DC-9 (continues to COU & SGF)
Springfield (IL)/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to STL & FLL)
Weekday departures dropped to eight. Note, however, that Ozark restored same-plane service to New York-LaGuardia on this date, and in both directions. Obviously, Peoria-New York still generated a healthy origin-and-destination market which the carrier sought to retain.
Meanwhile, Ozark added new spokes from its St. Louis hub. Nonstops to Baltimore, New York-LaGuardia and Sarasota/Bradenton began October 25, Norfolk on January 1 and Las Vegas on February 1. Schedules effective on the latter date show that weekday departures from Peoria had increased to ten.
Cedar Rapids/1 flights, DC-9 (continues to RST & MSP)
Champaign-Urbana/3 flights, DC-9, DC-9, DC-9
Indianapolis/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to BNA & TPA)
Minneapolis-St. Paul/1 flight, DC-9
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (continues to LGA), DC-9 (continues to BNA), DC-9
Springfield (IL)/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to STL, FMY & FLL)
An additional CMI-PIA-STL flight had been added with the above timetable. One-way, two-stop service to MSP ended March 1. Weekday departures dropped to nine with the April 25, 1982 timetable, and eight on July 1 (when one-way service to Milwaukee started). A significant change came August 1 when same-plane service to New York ended and the MSP-PIA-IND-BNA-TPA route became MSP-DSM-IND-BNA-TPA. Weekday departures declined to just six.
Champaign-Urbana/2 flights, DC-9 (continues to STL & DFW)), DC-9
Milwaukee/1 flight, DC-9
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (continues to DEN), DC-9 (continues to MSY), DC-9 (continues to PHL)
There's no logic to the one-way Milwaukee service, but airlines do things like this.
BRITT, CONTINENTAL & TWA HAPPENINGS
The Peoria Journal Star covered some changes during 1982, but not all of them. Fortunately, I have some airline timetables to assist documenting this important period in PIA history.
Britt Airways increased its weekday departures to Chicago-O'Hare from five to six around July 1. By October, there was a seventh with a stop at Springfield. Tag-ons to Bloomington-Normal and Springfield added another roundtrip each for a total of nine. When Britt was forced to reduce frequency following the PATCO strike, it actually increased capacity by operating all Peoria flights with FH-227s.
Unfortunately, the Peoria Journal Star failed to report Continental Airlines' service changes during 1982, but I believe I have uncovered approximate dates. The airline's December 1, 1981 timetable still shows two daily roundtrips between Peoria and its Denver hub, with one stopping at Kansas City in each direction. The February 1, 1982 timetable shows but a single daily Peoria-Denver roundtrip in the afternoon. The Peoria Journal Star reported that winter weather forced flight cancellations January 31, but none of Continental's four flights were cancelled. This tells me the reduction in Denver flights actually occurred the next day, consisent with the timetable!
Continental's June 1, 1982 timetable - the first to include Texas International Airlines' flights and route map - shows that Omaha, Nebraska had been added as a stop on the Peoria-Denver route. It isn't clear whether the Omaha stop was added on this date, or with the earlier April 25 timetable. The September 8 timetable shows a new morning departure and evening arrival, also stopping at Omaha. Whether the second roundtrip began on this date is unknown.
On October 31, Continental Airlines and Texas International Airlines merged, keeping the former name. Soon, DC-9-30s began showing up at PIA wearing TI colors but with Continental titles. Eventually, they wore the carrier's gold, orange and red livery with black "meatball" tail logo.
Although the airline had reconfigured its route system based on Denver and Houston hubs, Continental Airlines actually promoted point-to-point travel between Peoria and Omaha. On November 18, the Peoria Journal Star reported that Continental was cutting fares between the two cities from $50 to $39!
Trans World Airlines dropped its Peoria to Chicago-O'Hare roundtrip on July 1, 1982 thus ending continuous jet service (beginning with Ozark) to the Windy City after sixteen years. On August 1, however, the carrier restored a second daily St. Louis roundtrip.
On Saturday, June 5, TWA held an open house during which the public could tour a Boeing 727-100 parked at the west end of the terminal concourse between 1:00 and 5:00pm. I attended this event with my parents and two brothers.
MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
Vice-president George Bush arrived Peoria February 23 for a local event.
The Peoria Journal Star reported April 15 that Federal Express would begin using a Boeing 727-100 on its Peoria flights in October that year. (A personal note: I attended elementary school in Bartonville for the 1982-1983 period and remember first seeing this jet one day parked between the main passenger terminal and the Byerly Aviation terminal. The Emery 727 was often parked next to it.)
The 182nd Air National Guard held a public open house at PIA on Saturday, August 21. (On another personal note, it was the first time I got a close up look at Ozark Air Lines' "new" livery. My mom and two brothers went home for lunch, but my Dad stayed into the afternoon, reporting the appearance of both Continental and TWA 727s.)
In September, the Federal Aviation Administration gave PIA a favorable report for a $1.2 million extension of Runway 12-30 to the northwest. In October, the airport received funds to extend, mark and light runway 4-22 by 300 feet to the northeast with the project planned to start in Spring 1983.
SCHEDULES AND ROUTE MAP
PIA handled only 338,976 passengers in 1982, down more than 200,000 from the 1978 peak! Ozark strikes, the PATCO walkout and recession clearly devastated the airport's service. The situation worsened after the UAW Local 974 struck local Caterpillar plants on October 1, 1982. The walkout forced immediate reduction in manufacturing operations, a situation which lasted until the following April.
The Official Airline Guide's October 1982 North American Pocket Edition is the source for the following schedules and route map. Note that only three aircraft types were being used by Peoria's airlines - Boeing 727-100s, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s and Fairchild FH-227s. Also, Ozark offered single-plane, one-stop service to Denver in both directions and had restored, albeit briefly, one-stop, one-way service to Minneapolis/St. Paul.
At least weekday departures numbered nineteen, ten of which were operated with jets, though service was limited to just three hubs.
Minneapolis-St. Paul/1 flight, DC-9
St. Louis/2 flights, DC-9 (continues to LGA), DC-9 (continues to COU & SGF)
Springfield (IL)/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to STL & FLL)
Weekday departures dropped to eight. Note, however, that Ozark restored same-plane service to New York-LaGuardia on this date, and in both directions. Obviously, Peoria-New York still generated a healthy origin-and-destination market which the carrier sought to retain.
Meanwhile, Ozark added new spokes from its St. Louis hub. Nonstops to Baltimore, New York-LaGuardia and Sarasota/Bradenton began October 25, Norfolk on January 1 and Las Vegas on February 1. Schedules effective on the latter date show that weekday departures from Peoria had increased to ten.
Cedar Rapids/1 flights, DC-9 (continues to RST & MSP)
Champaign-Urbana/3 flights, DC-9, DC-9, DC-9
Indianapolis/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to BNA & TPA)
Minneapolis-St. Paul/1 flight, DC-9
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (continues to LGA), DC-9 (continues to BNA), DC-9
Springfield (IL)/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to STL, FMY & FLL)
An additional CMI-PIA-STL flight had been added with the above timetable. One-way, two-stop service to MSP ended March 1. Weekday departures dropped to nine with the April 25, 1982 timetable, and eight on July 1 (when one-way service to Milwaukee started). A significant change came August 1 when same-plane service to New York ended and the MSP-PIA-IND-BNA-TPA route became MSP-DSM-IND-BNA-TPA. Weekday departures declined to just six.
Champaign-Urbana/2 flights, DC-9 (continues to STL & DFW)), DC-9
Milwaukee/1 flight, DC-9
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (continues to DEN), DC-9 (continues to MSY), DC-9 (continues to PHL)
There's no logic to the one-way Milwaukee service, but airlines do things like this.
BRITT, CONTINENTAL & TWA HAPPENINGS
The Peoria Journal Star covered some changes during 1982, but not all of them. Fortunately, I have some airline timetables to assist documenting this important period in PIA history.
Britt Airways increased its weekday departures to Chicago-O'Hare from five to six around July 1. By October, there was a seventh with a stop at Springfield. Tag-ons to Bloomington-Normal and Springfield added another roundtrip each for a total of nine. When Britt was forced to reduce frequency following the PATCO strike, it actually increased capacity by operating all Peoria flights with FH-227s.
Unfortunately, the Peoria Journal Star failed to report Continental Airlines' service changes during 1982, but I believe I have uncovered approximate dates. The airline's December 1, 1981 timetable still shows two daily roundtrips between Peoria and its Denver hub, with one stopping at Kansas City in each direction. The February 1, 1982 timetable shows but a single daily Peoria-Denver roundtrip in the afternoon. The Peoria Journal Star reported that winter weather forced flight cancellations January 31, but none of Continental's four flights were cancelled. This tells me the reduction in Denver flights actually occurred the next day, consisent with the timetable!
Continental's June 1, 1982 timetable - the first to include Texas International Airlines' flights and route map - shows that Omaha, Nebraska had been added as a stop on the Peoria-Denver route. It isn't clear whether the Omaha stop was added on this date, or with the earlier April 25 timetable. The September 8 timetable shows a new morning departure and evening arrival, also stopping at Omaha. Whether the second roundtrip began on this date is unknown.
On October 31, Continental Airlines and Texas International Airlines merged, keeping the former name. Soon, DC-9-30s began showing up at PIA wearing TI colors but with Continental titles. Eventually, they wore the carrier's gold, orange and red livery with black "meatball" tail logo.
Although the airline had reconfigured its route system based on Denver and Houston hubs, Continental Airlines actually promoted point-to-point travel between Peoria and Omaha. On November 18, the Peoria Journal Star reported that Continental was cutting fares between the two cities from $50 to $39!
Trans World Airlines dropped its Peoria to Chicago-O'Hare roundtrip on July 1, 1982 thus ending continuous jet service (beginning with Ozark) to the Windy City after sixteen years. On August 1, however, the carrier restored a second daily St. Louis roundtrip.
On Saturday, June 5, TWA held an open house during which the public could tour a Boeing 727-100 parked at the west end of the terminal concourse between 1:00 and 5:00pm. I attended this event with my parents and two brothers.
MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
Vice-president George Bush arrived Peoria February 23 for a local event.
The Peoria Journal Star reported April 15 that Federal Express would begin using a Boeing 727-100 on its Peoria flights in October that year. (A personal note: I attended elementary school in Bartonville for the 1982-1983 period and remember first seeing this jet one day parked between the main passenger terminal and the Byerly Aviation terminal. The Emery 727 was often parked next to it.)
The 182nd Air National Guard held a public open house at PIA on Saturday, August 21. (On another personal note, it was the first time I got a close up look at Ozark Air Lines' "new" livery. My mom and two brothers went home for lunch, but my Dad stayed into the afternoon, reporting the appearance of both Continental and TWA 727s.)
In September, the Federal Aviation Administration gave PIA a favorable report for a $1.2 million extension of Runway 12-30 to the northwest. In October, the airport received funds to extend, mark and light runway 4-22 by 300 feet to the northeast with the project planned to start in Spring 1983.
SCHEDULES AND ROUTE MAP
PIA handled only 338,976 passengers in 1982, down more than 200,000 from the 1978 peak! Ozark strikes, the PATCO walkout and recession clearly devastated the airport's service. The situation worsened after the UAW Local 974 struck local Caterpillar plants on October 1, 1982. The walkout forced immediate reduction in manufacturing operations, a situation which lasted until the following April.
The Official Airline Guide's October 1982 North American Pocket Edition is the source for the following schedules and route map. Note that only three aircraft types were being used by Peoria's airlines - Boeing 727-100s, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s and Fairchild FH-227s. Also, Ozark offered single-plane, one-stop service to Denver in both directions and had restored, albeit briefly, one-stop, one-way service to Minneapolis/St. Paul.
At least weekday departures numbered nineteen, ten of which were operated with jets, though service was limited to just three hubs.
- David P. Jordan
Thanks...I flew PIA-OMA in March 1983 on a CO DC-9-30 in TI colors. There was a local market from PIA to OMA. The plane went out full but a number of people got off in OMA. On the return the flight was a 727-200. But due to a snowstorm in DEN, their airport was closed. The afternoon flight operated just OMA-PIA and there were about 30 people onboard, not too bad given it was just local traffic.
ReplyDeleteGiven only 5 daily FH227s to ORD, clearly the main hub for PIA shifted from ORD to STL.
I can't figure out why there would be much of a PIA-OMA market, but I supposed low fares could have created one.
Delete