Peoria Int'l Airport Air Service Detail and Analysis - July 2019

It is that time of year again!

Although changes may be few overall, I like to post an annual review of air service happenings at the Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport. Let's start with a run down by air carrier.

(Above video shot July 13, 2019.)

ALLEGIANT AIR
Allegiant Air offers nonstops to six destinations from Peoria - Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Las Vegas, Orlando-Sanford, Phoenix-Mesa, Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers and St. Petersburg/Clearwater. Destin/Ft. Walton Beach service is seasonal, ending after September 3. The Las Vegas-based carrier is offering 18 weekly departures in July 2019. See below for details.

Monday - Las Vegas, Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers
Tuesday - Phoenix-Mesa, St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Wednesday - Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Las Vegas, Orlando-Sanford, Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers
Thursday - Phoenix-Mesa, St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Friday - Las Vegas, Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers
Saturday - Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Orlando-Sanford, Phoenix-Mesa, St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Sunday - Phoenix-Mesa, St. Petersburg/Clearwater

The accompanying schedules were frustrating to compile because Allegiant tends to operate flights at different times on different dates, often changing week to week. So the numerous entries are deceiving. Keep in mind that Allegiant only offers 18 weekly departures from Peoria, ranging from two to four a day.

Aircraft deployed on these flights can vary, but it appears that 156-seat A-319s cover the Las Vegas, Orlando-Sanford and St. Petersburg/Clearwater while 177-seat A-320s cover the others. Substitutions of one type for the other are likely in some cases. Not specified in schedules is that newer, 186-seat A-320CEOs (Current Engine Option) are used on the Destin/Ft. Walton Beach flights.

A few years ago, Peoria airport officials polled travelers on potential new destinations suggested by Allegiant Air. These were Los Angeles, Myrtle Beach and Destin/Ft. Walton Beach. Seasonal service to Destin/Ft. Walton Beach began in May 2017. The airline's route map indicates Myrtle Beach is more of a market for eastern cities. Los Angeles service is available from similiar Midwestern markets like Cedar Rapids, Fargo and Sioux Falls but whether Peoria could generate sufficient traffic to Southern California is unclear (a relatively large Central Illinois population of more than 1 million suggests that it could).

As for other possible new markets from Peoria, it would be nice to see Fort Lauderdale nonstops return. International flights to Cancun, rumored for several years now, are presumably still being considered if funding for full staffing by U. S. Customs and Border Protection agents can be secured. If United Airlines (Express) isn't interested in Peoria-Denver, perhaps Allegiant could offer twice-weekly service, as it does from Asheville, NC and Knoxville, TN? Finally, Allegiant has been developing a Nashville focus city for more than a year with nonstop links to small cities such as Cedar Rapids. Peoria might be a possibility in the near future.

Allegiant Air has served Peoria for 15 years now, and is largely responsible for the record passenger traffic growth since that time. Despite media hit pieces questioning the airline's safety record, Allegiant can boast of continuing profitability and rapid expansion.

AMERICAN EAGLE (Envoy Air, Mesa Airlines, PSA Airlines)
De-emphasis on Chicago-O'Hare in favor of more distant hubs (Charlotte and Dallas/Ft. Worth) is the obvious trend the past few years. Envoy Air offers three daily roundtrips to Chicago on 50-seat Embraer 145s. Not many years ago, there were four, and even five weekday roundtrips.

Service to Charlotte, operated by PSA Airlines, was upgraded from 50-seat CRJ200s to 63- to 67-seat CRJ700s on both daily roundtrips on February 14 this year, reflecting the success of the route begun in November 2016.

Service to Dallas/Ft. Worth, operated by Mesa Airlines, continues to use 76-seat CRJ900s on both daily roundtrips.

DELTA CONNECTION (SkyWest Airlines)
Three weekday (less on weekends) rountrips to the world's busiest airport - Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport - are operated by SkyWest Airlines' 50-seat CRJ200s. SkyWest also operates a single daily (except Saturday evening/Sunday morning) between Peoria and Minneapolis/St. Paul with the same aircraft type. Both routes are profitable.

Unfortunately, twice-daily service to Detroit fell victim to pilot shortages and retirement of the smaller CRJ200s. The last flights operated last November 26. Hopefully, service to the Motor City can be restored in the near future, though it appears traffic is easily handled via other hubs.

UNITED EXPRESS (Air Wisconsin, ExpressJet Airlines)
Loss of Delta Connection service to Detroit might be the reason (or one reason) United Express increased service between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare to five roundtrips around April 1 this year. Schedules showed a mixture of CRJ200s (operated by Air Wisconsin) and Embraer-145s (operated by ExpressJet Airlines) through April then all CRJ200s operated by Air Wisconsin. July schedules show a mixture of both aircraft types, however.

PIA officials have made public their efforts to sway United Express to restore its Peoria-Denver route that was dropped in early 2015. Chances may have declined as Frontier Airlines revived its Bloomington-Denver route last fall. Competition from a Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) can be a deterrent in a smaller market like Central Illinois. Still, I think United Express can be successful in such a market as Peoria-Denver, though it will probably come at the expense of one or two Chicago-O'Hare frequencies.

SCHEDULE AND ROUTE MAP
The only omission from last year's post is Detroit. In summary, PIA is served by four carriers offering between 18 and 20 departures weekdays, depending which day of the week, and fewer on weekends.

- David P. Jordan