PIA - A History: Events of 1984
Peoria's economy remained in the dumps in 1984 as Caterpillar continued to shed employees as well as facilities. But airport passenger traffic continued to rise. An April 15 article proclaimed a nine percent increase and that fares were competitive with Chicago and St. Louis.
Britt Airways' service remained largely unchanged with FH-227s operating eight roundtrips between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare with seven nonstops to and eight nonstops from that facility. Bloomington-Normal and Springfield tag-ons gave the Terre Haute, Indiana-based airline a total of eleven weekday departures. A January 5, 1984 newspaper ad touted connections to American Airlines' Chicago-O'Hare hub.
Mississippi Valley Airlines provided five weekday flights to O'Hare and six from, while Burlington (Iowa) and Springfield (IL) tag-ons provided a total of eleven weekday departures. The Moline, Illinois-based airline used a mix of Fokker F-27s, Shorts 360s and Shorts 330s. MVA newspaper ads touted connections to United Air Lines' Chicago-O'Hare hub.
Britt Airways' service remained largely unchanged with FH-227s operating eight roundtrips between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare with seven nonstops to and eight nonstops from that facility. Bloomington-Normal and Springfield tag-ons gave the Terre Haute, Indiana-based airline a total of eleven weekday departures. A January 5, 1984 newspaper ad touted connections to American Airlines' Chicago-O'Hare hub.
Mississippi Valley Airlines provided five weekday flights to O'Hare and six from, while Burlington (Iowa) and Springfield (IL) tag-ons provided a total of eleven weekday departures. The Moline, Illinois-based airline used a mix of Fokker F-27s, Shorts 360s and Shorts 330s. MVA newspaper ads touted connections to United Air Lines' Chicago-O'Hare hub.
Ozark Air Lines began the year with five weekday departures. The airline's December 15, 1983 timetable shows
Cedar Rapids/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to ALO & MSP)
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (cont. to MIA & FLL), DC-9 (cont. to FLL), DC-9 (cont. to DEN)
Waterloo/1 flight, DC-9
The flight to Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Minneapolis/St. Paul had no counterpart (requiring a connection at St. Louis). Ozark offered four St. Louis-to-Peoria flights at this time. Then we move ahead to the April 29, 1984 timetable.
Cedar Rapids/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to RST & MSP)
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (cont. to SDF & RDU), DC-9 (cont. to LGA), DC-9 (cont. to DEN)
Ozark had eliminated the Waterloo tag-on, leaving Peoria with just four weekday departures. Like the prior date, MSP service was one-way. Note, however, that Rochester replaced Waterloo as a stop. This odd one-way service ended with the June 1, 1984 timetable.
Champaign-Urbana/1 flight, DC-9
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (cont. to MSY), DC-9, DC-9 (cont. to DEN)
The above became the pattern for the rest of Ozark's existence. Obviously, Peoria had become just another station for the airline.
Cedar Rapids/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to ALO & MSP)
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (cont. to MIA & FLL), DC-9 (cont. to FLL), DC-9 (cont. to DEN)
Waterloo/1 flight, DC-9
The flight to Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Minneapolis/St. Paul had no counterpart (requiring a connection at St. Louis). Ozark offered four St. Louis-to-Peoria flights at this time. Then we move ahead to the April 29, 1984 timetable.
Cedar Rapids/1 flight, DC-9 (continues to RST & MSP)
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (cont. to SDF & RDU), DC-9 (cont. to LGA), DC-9 (cont. to DEN)
Ozark had eliminated the Waterloo tag-on, leaving Peoria with just four weekday departures. Like the prior date, MSP service was one-way. Note, however, that Rochester replaced Waterloo as a stop. This odd one-way service ended with the June 1, 1984 timetable.
Champaign-Urbana/1 flight, DC-9
St. Louis/3 flights, DC-9 (cont. to MSY), DC-9, DC-9 (cont. to DEN)
The above became the pattern for the rest of Ozark's existence. Obviously, Peoria had become just another station for the airline.
Trans World Airlines added a third Peoria-St. Louis roundtrip on January 15, 1984 using a Boeing 727-100. In 1983, the carrier had greatly expanded its St. Louis hub (179 weekday departures by mid-year) and saw an opportunity to fill a gap left by Continental Airlines' absence.
Further enhancing its service, the airline in late-May transported an unneeded jetway from Denver's Stapleton International Airport to Peoria for installation. PIA's first jetway was installed at Gate 7 with plans for it to be operational on May 30. It is unclear if the goal was met as the Peoria Journal Star's June 19 edition ran a captioned photo of a TWA 727 parked at this jetway (suggesting some delay) the day before.
United Air Lines began service here on April 1, 1984. Boeing 727-100s operated Toledo-Peoria-Denver and Peoria-St. Louis-Denver routings, providing three daily departures. By July, Lincoln, Nebraska replaced St. Louis as a stop on the Denver route.
Remember back in 1980 when United Air Lines CEO Richard J. Ferris told a local audience that if he had his way the airline would never service Peoria because it was best served by commuters? Obviously, something had changed. Most likely, the significant reduction at PIA in nonstop and direct destinations, dependence on Chicago and St. Louis hub connections and the loss of Continental Airlines' Denver hub connections prompted United to enter the Peoria market.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Peoria Journal Star ran a story January 5, 1984 on TWA captain Frank Scahill, who learned to fly at Mount Hawley Airport, and was on the regular crew on St. Louis-Peoria flights.
At the April board meeting, the GPAA reported air freight volume rose 60 percent in 1983 over 1982. At the time, Federal Express and Emery Air Freight offered 727-100 freight service to Memphis and Dayton hubs, respectively.
Runway 12-30 was re-designated 13-31 around this time. An overlay and lighting project begun in the summer forced temporary closure of this strip, requiring even Boeing 727s to use the short (6,000') Runway 4-22, which had been re-paved in 1983. Runway 13-31 had been re-paved in 1972. It re-opened to traffic in November.
SCHEDULES AND ROUTE MAP
Further enhancing its service, the airline in late-May transported an unneeded jetway from Denver's Stapleton International Airport to Peoria for installation. PIA's first jetway was installed at Gate 7 with plans for it to be operational on May 30. It is unclear if the goal was met as the Peoria Journal Star's June 19 edition ran a captioned photo of a TWA 727 parked at this jetway (suggesting some delay) the day before.
United Air Lines began service here on April 1, 1984. Boeing 727-100s operated Toledo-Peoria-Denver and Peoria-St. Louis-Denver routings, providing three daily departures. By July, Lincoln, Nebraska replaced St. Louis as a stop on the Denver route.
Remember back in 1980 when United Air Lines CEO Richard J. Ferris told a local audience that if he had his way the airline would never service Peoria because it was best served by commuters? Obviously, something had changed. Most likely, the significant reduction at PIA in nonstop and direct destinations, dependence on Chicago and St. Louis hub connections and the loss of Continental Airlines' Denver hub connections prompted United to enter the Peoria market.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Peoria Journal Star ran a story January 5, 1984 on TWA captain Frank Scahill, who learned to fly at Mount Hawley Airport, and was on the regular crew on St. Louis-Peoria flights.
At the April board meeting, the GPAA reported air freight volume rose 60 percent in 1983 over 1982. At the time, Federal Express and Emery Air Freight offered 727-100 freight service to Memphis and Dayton hubs, respectively.
Runway 12-30 was re-designated 13-31 around this time. An overlay and lighting project begun in the summer forced temporary closure of this strip, requiring even Boeing 727s to use the short (6,000') Runway 4-22, which had been re-paved in 1983. Runway 13-31 had been re-paved in 1972. It re-opened to traffic in November.
SCHEDULES AND ROUTE MAP
Traffic boomed in the winter and spring, but slowed in the summer. Indeed, 1984's passenger tally was 363,274, just 0.03 percent higher than 1983's 362,363. Month-over-month traffic began rising again that fall. Perhaps airport construction played a role, i. e., forced cancellation of some flights due to weight restrictions. I have no confirmation of that so take it as pure speculation.
- David P. Jordan
Looking forward to spring/summer 1986.
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