PIA - A History: Changing Times (1997-1998)
Image consciousness dominated PIA in the 1990s, but airport officials seemed powerless to reverse declining service offerings. In 1997, however, a shift in fortune was spurred not by PIA but by a competitor 50 miles away.
THE RISE OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS REGIONAL AIRPORT
Starting in 1945, the Greater Peoria [Regional] Airport had dominated the Central Illinois region in passenger volume for five decades. No other facility came close. But by the late-1990s, it was clear PIA's reign was threatened by Bloomington-Normal Airport (BMI).
Renamed Central Illinois Regional Airport in 1996, BMI quickly lived up to its name. Officials revealed in late-summer that they were pursuing a recent upstart named AirTran Airways, which would offer daily nonstop jet service to Orlando, Florida. Bloomington's Pantagraph revealed that CIRA was competing with PIA for this service.
AirTran chose CIRA despite the airfield's limitations. First, Runway 02-20, opened a few months prior, was too short for summertime operation by the airline's older Boeing 737-200s. Second, the small terminal lacked a jetway. CIRA acted quickly, pledging to have a jetway in place before AirTran began service on December 19. A 600' extension of Runway 02-20 to the south would be completed by summer 1997.
These projects, totaling $1.6 million, were not without controversy. Local residents questioned the potential risk of spending this sum to support service by a single airline that could fail (as most upstarts do) in a short time. Concerns abated in early December when Frontier Airlines announced it would start a single daily-except-Sunday roundtrip (via Omaha, Nebraska) to Denver using Boeing 737-200 aircraft beginning January 6, 1997.
CIRA had struck gold. In 1996, it posted a record 164,837 passengers. Thanks to AirTran and Frontier, and resulting lower fares, traffic surged to 281,942 passengers in 1997. CIRA was the nation's fastest growing airport that year.
The July 1997 deal to merge AirTran Airways and Valujet offered new opportunities. Regulatory approval came in November and the two airlines completed their operational integration the following April. (Valujet became "AirTran Airlines" in the interim).
The combination had almost immediate benefits to CIRA. On March 1, 1998, AirTran Airways began offering one daily nonstop to Atlanta using a Boeing 737-200. A second roundtrip was added May 18. The ability to route passengers via an Atlanta hub prompted the carrier to cease Orlando nonstops on September 9. Fortunately for CIRA, continued growth required a third Atlanta nonstop, which began November 1.
CIRA handled 382,091 passengers in 1998, a 231 percent increase in just two years! Efforts to attract nonstops to Dallas/Ft. Worth, New York and Phoenix came up short, but it was clear who intended to be the top facility in Central Illinois.
FRUSTRATION BUILDS
Peoria airport officials were quick to poo-poo CIRA's success in luring new service. The Peoria Journal Star ran an article October 4, 1996 which revealed PIA's overconfidence.
But the loss was not a big one for the Greater Peoria Airport Authority, said Bruce Carter, the authority's director of airports.
"I'm not too concerned about it," he said. AirTran was "never in the top five" of jet carriers the authority is trying to attract to Peoria, Carter said.
Though the airport already offers twice-daily nonstop jet service to Denver, the airport authority wants its next additional carrier to fly to multiple locations, he said. Unlike Bloomington, the Peoria regional airport already has longer runways and facilities for jet service, Carter said.
Events would quickly prove him wrong. PIA should have done all it could to lure AirTran. Obviously, "longer runways and facilities for jet service" did Peoria no good. Looking back, however, Carter probably revealed a clue that another carrier was looking at PIA (see Peoria's Upstart).
Despite these frustrations, PIA was showing signs of life in 1997 and 1998. Let's review air service changes during that period.
AMERICAN EAGLE (Simmons Airlines, American Eagle Airlines)
Daily roundtrips between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare held at six roundtrips for at least peak travel seasons through 1997 and 1998. Half of these were operated by 68-seat ATR-72s, the other half by 46-seat ATR-42s. So with 342 seats each way daily, the route could have easily justified jet service, but the short distance precluded the use of mainline aircraft.
On May 15, 1998 Flagship Airlines and Wings West Airlines merged with Simmons Airlines to create a single commuter carrier named "American Eagle Airlines Inc." On the same date, it inaugurated regional jet service linking Chicago-O'Hare with Cincinnati, Cleveland and Milwaukee using 50-seat Embraer 145s, the first of 50 on order.
In October 1998, the Peoria Journal Star reported than an American Airlines routing planning manager discussed use of these aircraft at CIRA (but apparently not PIA). Then in late November, American Eagle announced it would deploy an Embraer 145 on a single-daily roundtrip between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare beginning January 6, 1999. Its decision was prompted by the action of a competitor (See United Express entry).
NORTHWEST AIRLINK (Express Airlines I, Mesaba Airlines)
On April 1, 1997, Express Airlines I became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines. Four months later, the carrier ceased operations at Minneapolis/St. Paul to focus on its Memphis base. At this time (August 1), Mesaba Airlines assumed all four weekday Northwest Airlink roundtrips between Peoria and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Though unremarked in the local media, the change also resulted in new single-plane service to Detroit. Northwest Airlines timetables indicate all of its local services were routed MSP-PIA, MSP-PIA-BMI, MSP-PIA-BMI-DTW and MSP-PIA-BMI-CMI-DTW for a total of seven arriving and seven departing flights each weekday, all on 34-seat Saab 340 turboprops.
Northwest's timetable eff. Sep. 9 thru Oct. 24, 1998 is first to show three weekday roundtrips routed PIA-BMI-DTW but in a brief Peoria Journal Star piece July 3 indicated the change occurred at least two months earlier.
TRANS WORLD AIRLINES/TRANS WORLD EXPRESS (Trans States Airlines)
September 1998 schedules show that Trans World Express maintained ten weekday roundtrips between Peoria and St. Louis with half on 68-seat ATR-72s, four on 48-seat ATR-42 and one on a 30-seat Jetstream 41. Both Remain-Over-Night (RON) flights were operated with the ATR-72. Thus the carrier offered 562 seats each way on weekdays.
Frequent flight cancellations on TW Express turboprop flights out of Peoria prompted Rep. Ray LaHood, Airport Director Bruce Carter and others to meet with TWA at St. Louis in late-May 1998. During the meeting, they asked for the major carrier to offer a morning departure and evening arrival to ensure reliable service for business travelers. The airline said it would study the issue.
TW Express blamed maintenance operations' high turnover for numerous flight cancellations. The problem of flight reliability was illustrated best in the Peoria Journal Star piece dated June 2, 1998.
Of the 10 TWE departures slated Monday from Peoria, three were canceled, two were delayed by less than an hour and the rest left on time or five minutes early, an airline representative said.
TW Express' struggles resulted in a 20 percent decline in traffic out of PIA during 1998.
UNITED EXPRESS (Air Wisconsin, Atlantic Coast Airlines, United Feeder Service)
Service and equipment remained stable through 1997 until late 1998. On November 1, 1998, United Express was to begin offering Peoria-Denver nonstops using 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets in place of larger BAe-146s. Though smaller aircraft were used, elimination of the Moline stop likely increased capacity for Peoria travelers. (Whether this change actually happened isn't clear. Schedules from December 15, 1998 and all through 1999 show the prior routing with BAe-146s.)
On December 15, 1998 Atlantic Coast Airlines replaced two United Feeder Service's Chicago-O'Hare roundtrips with CRJ200s. This change reduced seating capacity but re-introduced Chicago jet service after a near five-year absence. UFS continued to offer two other roundtrips on 64-seat British Aerospace ATP turboprops.
PEORIA'S UPSTART
A December 9, 1996 Des Moines Register article notes an airline named "AccessAir" was first unveiled in May of that year without mentioning Peoria. It is likely, however, that the carrier was already engaged in discussions with PIA officials, hence what Bruce Carter told the Peoria Journal Star in October ("...the airport authority wants its next additional carrier to fly to multiple locations").
Local evening news broadcasts on April 18, 1997 gave Peorians their first glimpse of a carrier which planned to offer nonstop and direct service to multiple destinations, including New York and Los Angeles. Des Moines, Iowa-based AccessAir intended to bypass hubs and offer daily flights from its home base and also Cedar Rapids, Moline, Peoria and Wichita. The carrier needed $15 million in startup capital, but it already had $8.7 million through Iowa state grants and private funding.
Over-optimistic predictions of a Fall 1996 startup date were noted in the Des Moines Register article. In April 1997, AccessAir president Roger Ferguson predicted his airline would be starting operations in 12-15 months, or sometime between April and July 1998. Then in June 1997, Ferguson announced he had received "preliminary approval" from the U. S. Department of Transportation and would be flying in four or five months. The carrier's fundraising by then amounted to three-quarters of the minimum $14.7 million requirement.
New York and Los Angeles were the first targets, followed by San Francisco and Washington, DC and then Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Portland (OR), Miami, Phoenix and Seattle/Tacoma. The airline intended to use late-model Boeing 737-200s configured for 117 seats. AccessAir seemed to be channeling Ozark Air Lines from the late-1970s.
On November 4, 1997 AccessAir filed for slot exemptions to offer nonstop service from Peoria and Moline to New York-LaGuardia Airport. The airline's bid was rejected in April 1998, but at least it had a backup plan to lease slots, or fly out of nearby Newark temporarily.
AccessAir's FAA certification process ran into delay after delay through 1998, but late that summer, the airline acquired its first Boeing 737-200. On September 21 it was flown to Peoria for an invitation-only reception.
CIRA STRIKES AGAIN
Central Illinois Regional Airport continued its tradition of being a major irritant to Peoria's plans. In May 1997, AirTran Airways filed with the U. S. Dept. Transportation for slot exemptions allowing for New York-LaGuardia flights from several cities, including Bloomington-Normal and Moline. The airline planned two daily roundtrips (one nonstop, the other via Moline). The application was rejected in October but CIRA director Mike LaPier discovered that USDOT rejected the application on incomplete information and re-applied. CIRA's dreams for New York flights were dashed yet again in April 1998.
TERMINAL EXPANSION
By the time AccessAir made its local plans public in April 1997, PIA's terminal gates were already full. American Eagle used Gate 3, TW Express used Gates 4 and 5*, United Express used Gates 6* and 7* and Northwest Airlink used Gate 8.
In September 1997, contractors began removing apron pavement on the east end of the terminal concourse so that it could be extended. Brick work on the extension had been largely complete by mid-October. The concourse extension was completed in Summer 1998, and gave the terminal an additional gate.
*Jetway-equipped.
AIR CARGO
In July 1997, Illinois governor Jim Edgar signed a $35 million fuel tax incentive to lure DHL Worldwide Express, which quickly narrowed the competition for a new $150 million air cargo hub to three: Cincinnati, Columbus (OH) and Peoria. Although it appears Illinois incentives were sufficient, the financial and emotional cost of moving 400 of 1,100 from the present hub were deemed too high. A new facility would be built at Cincinnati, where the present hub had operated since 1983.
Despite losing out on a long-coveted air cargo hub, PIA 1997 freight volume grew 13.1 percent over 1996 to 47,890,518 pounds. Figures declined slightly in 1998 to 47,737,088 pounds. Airborne Express, DHL, Emery Worldwide and Federal Express provided scheduled cargo flights from here during the week.
NEWSPAPER SILLY SEASON
On July 20-22, 1997 the Peoria Journal Star ran a series of articles, Flight Check, on PIA operations, focusing on flying tips, safety, behind-the-scenes action, statistics and a 24-hour documentation of happenings during May 16 that year.
The reporters' efforts were commendable, but glaring problems plagued the series. One example is this from the July 21 article, Time, money, safety: A turbulent mix
"There has never been a crash of a flight that originated in Peoria, a statistic that alone should give some comfort to those who flatout refuse to board the smaller planes that fly from here."
THE RISE OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS REGIONAL AIRPORT
Starting in 1945, the Greater Peoria [Regional] Airport had dominated the Central Illinois region in passenger volume for five decades. No other facility came close. But by the late-1990s, it was clear PIA's reign was threatened by Bloomington-Normal Airport (BMI).
Renamed Central Illinois Regional Airport in 1996, BMI quickly lived up to its name. Officials revealed in late-summer that they were pursuing a recent upstart named AirTran Airways, which would offer daily nonstop jet service to Orlando, Florida. Bloomington's Pantagraph revealed that CIRA was competing with PIA for this service.
AirTran chose CIRA despite the airfield's limitations. First, Runway 02-20, opened a few months prior, was too short for summertime operation by the airline's older Boeing 737-200s. Second, the small terminal lacked a jetway. CIRA acted quickly, pledging to have a jetway in place before AirTran began service on December 19. A 600' extension of Runway 02-20 to the south would be completed by summer 1997.
These projects, totaling $1.6 million, were not without controversy. Local residents questioned the potential risk of spending this sum to support service by a single airline that could fail (as most upstarts do) in a short time. Concerns abated in early December when Frontier Airlines announced it would start a single daily-except-Sunday roundtrip (via Omaha, Nebraska) to Denver using Boeing 737-200 aircraft beginning January 6, 1997.
CIRA had struck gold. In 1996, it posted a record 164,837 passengers. Thanks to AirTran and Frontier, and resulting lower fares, traffic surged to 281,942 passengers in 1997. CIRA was the nation's fastest growing airport that year.
The July 1997 deal to merge AirTran Airways and Valujet offered new opportunities. Regulatory approval came in November and the two airlines completed their operational integration the following April. (Valujet became "AirTran Airlines" in the interim).
The combination had almost immediate benefits to CIRA. On March 1, 1998, AirTran Airways began offering one daily nonstop to Atlanta using a Boeing 737-200. A second roundtrip was added May 18. The ability to route passengers via an Atlanta hub prompted the carrier to cease Orlando nonstops on September 9. Fortunately for CIRA, continued growth required a third Atlanta nonstop, which began November 1.
CIRA handled 382,091 passengers in 1998, a 231 percent increase in just two years! Efforts to attract nonstops to Dallas/Ft. Worth, New York and Phoenix came up short, but it was clear who intended to be the top facility in Central Illinois.
FRUSTRATION BUILDS
Peoria airport officials were quick to poo-poo CIRA's success in luring new service. The Peoria Journal Star ran an article October 4, 1996 which revealed PIA's overconfidence.
But the loss was not a big one for the Greater Peoria Airport Authority, said Bruce Carter, the authority's director of airports.
"I'm not too concerned about it," he said. AirTran was "never in the top five" of jet carriers the authority is trying to attract to Peoria, Carter said.
Though the airport already offers twice-daily nonstop jet service to Denver, the airport authority wants its next additional carrier to fly to multiple locations, he said. Unlike Bloomington, the Peoria regional airport already has longer runways and facilities for jet service, Carter said.
Events would quickly prove him wrong. PIA should have done all it could to lure AirTran. Obviously, "longer runways and facilities for jet service" did Peoria no good. Looking back, however, Carter probably revealed a clue that another carrier was looking at PIA (see Peoria's Upstart).
Despite these frustrations, PIA was showing signs of life in 1997 and 1998. Let's review air service changes during that period.
AMERICAN EAGLE (Simmons Airlines, American Eagle Airlines)
Daily roundtrips between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare held at six roundtrips for at least peak travel seasons through 1997 and 1998. Half of these were operated by 68-seat ATR-72s, the other half by 46-seat ATR-42s. So with 342 seats each way daily, the route could have easily justified jet service, but the short distance precluded the use of mainline aircraft.
On May 15, 1998 Flagship Airlines and Wings West Airlines merged with Simmons Airlines to create a single commuter carrier named "American Eagle Airlines Inc." On the same date, it inaugurated regional jet service linking Chicago-O'Hare with Cincinnati, Cleveland and Milwaukee using 50-seat Embraer 145s, the first of 50 on order.
In October 1998, the Peoria Journal Star reported than an American Airlines routing planning manager discussed use of these aircraft at CIRA (but apparently not PIA). Then in late November, American Eagle announced it would deploy an Embraer 145 on a single-daily roundtrip between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare beginning January 6, 1999. Its decision was prompted by the action of a competitor (See United Express entry).
NORTHWEST AIRLINK (Express Airlines I, Mesaba Airlines)
On April 1, 1997, Express Airlines I became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines. Four months later, the carrier ceased operations at Minneapolis/St. Paul to focus on its Memphis base. At this time (August 1), Mesaba Airlines assumed all four weekday Northwest Airlink roundtrips between Peoria and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Though unremarked in the local media, the change also resulted in new single-plane service to Detroit. Northwest Airlines timetables indicate all of its local services were routed MSP-PIA, MSP-PIA-BMI, MSP-PIA-BMI-DTW and MSP-PIA-BMI-CMI-DTW for a total of seven arriving and seven departing flights each weekday, all on 34-seat Saab 340 turboprops.
Northwest's timetable eff. Sep. 9 thru Oct. 24, 1998 is first to show three weekday roundtrips routed PIA-BMI-DTW but in a brief Peoria Journal Star piece July 3 indicated the change occurred at least two months earlier.
TRANS WORLD AIRLINES/TRANS WORLD EXPRESS (Trans States Airlines)
September 1998 schedules show that Trans World Express maintained ten weekday roundtrips between Peoria and St. Louis with half on 68-seat ATR-72s, four on 48-seat ATR-42 and one on a 30-seat Jetstream 41. Both Remain-Over-Night (RON) flights were operated with the ATR-72. Thus the carrier offered 562 seats each way on weekdays.
Frequent flight cancellations on TW Express turboprop flights out of Peoria prompted Rep. Ray LaHood, Airport Director Bruce Carter and others to meet with TWA at St. Louis in late-May 1998. During the meeting, they asked for the major carrier to offer a morning departure and evening arrival to ensure reliable service for business travelers. The airline said it would study the issue.
TW Express blamed maintenance operations' high turnover for numerous flight cancellations. The problem of flight reliability was illustrated best in the Peoria Journal Star piece dated June 2, 1998.
Of the 10 TWE departures slated Monday from Peoria, three were canceled, two were delayed by less than an hour and the rest left on time or five minutes early, an airline representative said.
TW Express' struggles resulted in a 20 percent decline in traffic out of PIA during 1998.
UNITED EXPRESS (Air Wisconsin, Atlantic Coast Airlines, United Feeder Service)
Service and equipment remained stable through 1997 until late 1998. On November 1, 1998, United Express was to begin offering Peoria-Denver nonstops using 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets in place of larger BAe-146s. Though smaller aircraft were used, elimination of the Moline stop likely increased capacity for Peoria travelers. (Whether this change actually happened isn't clear. Schedules from December 15, 1998 and all through 1999 show the prior routing with BAe-146s.)
On December 15, 1998 Atlantic Coast Airlines replaced two United Feeder Service's Chicago-O'Hare roundtrips with CRJ200s. This change reduced seating capacity but re-introduced Chicago jet service after a near five-year absence. UFS continued to offer two other roundtrips on 64-seat British Aerospace ATP turboprops.
PEORIA'S UPSTART
A December 9, 1996 Des Moines Register article notes an airline named "AccessAir" was first unveiled in May of that year without mentioning Peoria. It is likely, however, that the carrier was already engaged in discussions with PIA officials, hence what Bruce Carter told the Peoria Journal Star in October ("...the airport authority wants its next additional carrier to fly to multiple locations").
Local evening news broadcasts on April 18, 1997 gave Peorians their first glimpse of a carrier which planned to offer nonstop and direct service to multiple destinations, including New York and Los Angeles. Des Moines, Iowa-based AccessAir intended to bypass hubs and offer daily flights from its home base and also Cedar Rapids, Moline, Peoria and Wichita. The carrier needed $15 million in startup capital, but it already had $8.7 million through Iowa state grants and private funding.
Over-optimistic predictions of a Fall 1996 startup date were noted in the Des Moines Register article. In April 1997, AccessAir president Roger Ferguson predicted his airline would be starting operations in 12-15 months, or sometime between April and July 1998. Then in June 1997, Ferguson announced he had received "preliminary approval" from the U. S. Department of Transportation and would be flying in four or five months. The carrier's fundraising by then amounted to three-quarters of the minimum $14.7 million requirement.
New York and Los Angeles were the first targets, followed by San Francisco and Washington, DC and then Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Portland (OR), Miami, Phoenix and Seattle/Tacoma. The airline intended to use late-model Boeing 737-200s configured for 117 seats. AccessAir seemed to be channeling Ozark Air Lines from the late-1970s.
On November 4, 1997 AccessAir filed for slot exemptions to offer nonstop service from Peoria and Moline to New York-LaGuardia Airport. The airline's bid was rejected in April 1998, but at least it had a backup plan to lease slots, or fly out of nearby Newark temporarily.
AccessAir's FAA certification process ran into delay after delay through 1998, but late that summer, the airline acquired its first Boeing 737-200. On September 21 it was flown to Peoria for an invitation-only reception.
CIRA STRIKES AGAIN
Central Illinois Regional Airport continued its tradition of being a major irritant to Peoria's plans. In May 1997, AirTran Airways filed with the U. S. Dept. Transportation for slot exemptions allowing for New York-LaGuardia flights from several cities, including Bloomington-Normal and Moline. The airline planned two daily roundtrips (one nonstop, the other via Moline). The application was rejected in October but CIRA director Mike LaPier discovered that USDOT rejected the application on incomplete information and re-applied. CIRA's dreams for New York flights were dashed yet again in April 1998.
TERMINAL EXPANSION
By the time AccessAir made its local plans public in April 1997, PIA's terminal gates were already full. American Eagle used Gate 3, TW Express used Gates 4 and 5*, United Express used Gates 6* and 7* and Northwest Airlink used Gate 8.
In September 1997, contractors began removing apron pavement on the east end of the terminal concourse so that it could be extended. Brick work on the extension had been largely complete by mid-October. The concourse extension was completed in Summer 1998, and gave the terminal an additional gate.
*Jetway-equipped.
AIR CARGO
In July 1997, Illinois governor Jim Edgar signed a $35 million fuel tax incentive to lure DHL Worldwide Express, which quickly narrowed the competition for a new $150 million air cargo hub to three: Cincinnati, Columbus (OH) and Peoria. Although it appears Illinois incentives were sufficient, the financial and emotional cost of moving 400 of 1,100 from the present hub were deemed too high. A new facility would be built at Cincinnati, where the present hub had operated since 1983.
Despite losing out on a long-coveted air cargo hub, PIA 1997 freight volume grew 13.1 percent over 1996 to 47,890,518 pounds. Figures declined slightly in 1998 to 47,737,088 pounds. Airborne Express, DHL, Emery Worldwide and Federal Express provided scheduled cargo flights from here during the week.
NEWSPAPER SILLY SEASON
On July 20-22, 1997 the Peoria Journal Star ran a series of articles, Flight Check, on PIA operations, focusing on flying tips, safety, behind-the-scenes action, statistics and a 24-hour documentation of happenings during May 16 that year.
The reporters' efforts were commendable, but glaring problems plagued the series. One example is this from the July 21 article, Time, money, safety: A turbulent mix
"There has never been a crash of a flight that originated in Peoria, a statistic that alone should give some comfort to those who flatout refuse to board the smaller planes that fly from here."
Not true. United Air Lines Flight 585 originated at Peoria the morning of March 3, 1991, stopped at Moline and then Denver before proceeding to Colorado Springs, where it crashed while on final approach. The NTSB determined the probable cause was due to rudder control issues, causing the plane, a Boeing 737-200, to roll over into an uncontrollable dive. All 25 aboard were killed, though none had boarded at Peoria that morning.
Furthermore, on October 21, 1971 an ATECO Westwind II operated by Peoria-based Chicago & Southern Airlines crashed here on final approach during inclement weather, killing 14. The flight originated at Chicago-Meigs Field, but the plane began its day here that morning. And the airline was based at Peoria. Pilot error was cited as the cause of the crash but the airline's shoddy maintenance record was noted in the media as well as through subsequent NTSB investigation.
Another problem can be found in a July 22 article, Change is in the air. It states
"...passenger numbers are down, way down - almost 87,000 fewer than in 1995."
I'm unsure what year passenger traffic was "87,000 fewer than in 1995" as PIA handled approximately 363,000 in both 1995 and 1996. Passenger traffic surged in 1997 (see below), which would have been known by comparing month-over-month stats. The answer for this mystery is found later in the same article
"In fact, after the numbers dropped from 450,368 in 1986 to 363,167 in 1995, they increased slightly for the first time last year."
The writer had compared 1986 and 1995 numbers. The trend noted isn't entirely accurate either as there were ups and downs, though the ten-year trend was a general decline.
Finally, while the route map published in the July 20 edition shows twice-daily service to Denver and there are brief mentions of a morning Denver departure, the entire series fails to mention Air Wisconsin dba United Express jet service to that city. The July 21 article, It's safer to fly," looks at Peoria's commuter carriers with stats, but only mentions one (United Feeder Service) of two United Express carriers then serving the city.
Aside from sloppy understanding of commercial aviation in editorials and articles covering AccessAir and happenings at Bloomington-Normal, the Flight Check series represented the worst of newspaper silly season in 1997 and 1998. Nevertheless, Flight Check did provide a lot of good information.
SCHEDULES, ROUTE MAP
After posting the lowest traffic levels in a decade during 1995 and 1996 (363,167 and 363,483 respectively), passenger numbers surged in 1997 when 448,592 passengers passed through PIA's gates. Traffic declined a bit in 1998 with 440,984 passengers. The latter figures were likely suppressed by new, low-fare service out of CIRA. Overall higher traffic, however, is best attributed to lower fares thanks to competition from CIRA.
This September 1998 schedule and route map, culled from individual airline timetables, show 29 weekday departures being offered from PIA by four carriers - American Eagle (6 to Chicago-O'Hare), Northwest Airlink (3 to Detroit Metro via CIRA, 4 to Minneapolis/St. Paul), Trans World Express (10 to St. Louis) and United Express (four to Chicago-O'Hare, two to Denver via Moline).
- David P. Jordan
thanks for the update
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