PIA - A History: Events of 1999 (includes Video Slide Show)

AccessAir's plans to offer Peoria nonstop and direct flights to multiple major destinations thrilled those of us who remembered (or learned of) the good old days of the 1970s. And for a time in 1999, service levels and available (and projected) service began to resemble those days. Yet, this fantastic revival was cut short by all too familiar circumstances.

The Greater Peoria Regional Airport saw a lot of change and drama in 1999, so this post will only cover that year. Let us first look at happenings by individual airlines.

ACCESSAIR
After its April 18, 1997 public announcement of plans to serve Peoria, this carrier consumed nearly two years to start operations.

Difficulty obtaining slots at New York-LaGuardia Airport prompted consideration of Newark International Airport (also slot-controlled) on a temporary basis. Then in late 1998, the carrier entered into a deal with Northwest Airlines to lease two unused slots until April 4. After final regulatory approval, the carrier announced on January 29, 1999 that it would begin service within a week.

In late-afternoon, February 3, one 737-200 flew from Des Moines to Moline before continuing to New York. The next morning, a second 737-200 flew from Des Moines to Peoria and on to New York. [On a personal note, I drove up to see the first flight at Moline, where I actually met AccessAir president, Roger D. Ferguson, and chief financial officer, Rich Musal. At the Peoria inaugural the next morning, both Ferguson and Musal seemed amused to see me again!]

Unable to sell tickets until February 2, it is no surprise the inaugural flight through Peoria had but one paying passenger. The only others were crewmembers, journalists and airline officials. Higher business levels were expected when daily flights to Los Angeles (via Des Moines) started March 1.

Loads at Peoria were low in February (315 passengers), and the airline was bleeding cash faster than expected. By mid-March, AccessAir officials were complaining of "predatory pricing" by competitors, asking the US Department of Transportation, the US Department of Justice and Iowa's attorney general to investigate pricing practices by Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and TWA. Meanwhile, the airline received good news March 18 when the Federal Aviation Administration granted it permanent slots at LaGuardia.

March traffic (1,565 passengers) at Peoria increased massively as Los Angeles service proved far more popular than New York. Limited service (daily-except-Sunday) and flight times (morning) were believed to have been a factor in low traffic to the Big Apple.

Loads to New York did increase steadily, however. With more optimism for the future, the airline looked ahead to expansion plans. A second roundtrip each to Los Angeles and New York was planned for later in the year, as well as service to Colorado Springs, San Francisco and Washington, DC. In early May, the carrier announced it would double flights to both Los Angeles and New York beginning June 9. Colorado Springs was to become a stop for the former.

In late-May, the State of Illinois provided $2 million in grant money to Moline and Peoria airports to help with startup and operational costs related to AccessAir. Peoria released its $1 million for the airline in August.

Late delivery of two more 737-200s forced AccessAir to delay expansion. But on June 9, Colorado Springs began on schedule, replacing Des Moines as a stop on the Peoria-Los Angeles route. After another delay, the airline set June 27 as the date to begin the new flights. That date came and went.

As financial losses mounted, public relations went into the toilet. Congestion at Los Angeles and New York airports that spring had already forced numerous cancellations. The airline's failure to begin new flights as planned had stranded passengers. After booking flights before planes could be delivered, an embarrassed management struggled to contain the damage, even with offers of free tickets on competing carriers.

AccessAir revised its schedules once again in early July for better reliability. Planned flights were finally added on August 12. Routings were LAX-DSM-PIA-LGA and LAX-COS-PIA-LGA eastbound, and LGA-PIA-MLI-COS-LAX and LGA-PIA-DSM-LAX westbound.

By late summer, AccessAir seemed to have stabilized its schedule, reducing delays and flight cancellations. In October, the airline announced plans for a fifth 737-200 and two daily roundtrips (some via Moline) to Phoenix. There were also plans to have a fleet of eight planes by the end of 2000, supporting new flights to San Francisco and Washington, DC as well as additional service to Los Angeles. The airline's October 31, 1999 timetable showed future routes to Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Portland (OR) and Seattle/Tacoma.

Founder and president Roger D. Ferguson's decision to leave the company portended severe financial strain from lack of cash and travelers. (The "official" reason was that AccessAir no longer needed him, with his duties given to Rich Musal in July.)

Having bled through startup capital and government grants, AccessAir suspended operations on November 29. Musal blamed his airline's July booking fiasco in which it spent $3 million to accommodate stranded travelers and lost an additional $6 million in revenue.

AccessAir never recovered from the bad publicity. Worse, the airline publically aired its disappointment in low traffic out of Peoria. The $8 million raised by local firms and $1 million from taxpayers proved a collossal waste.

The same day it suspended operations, AccessAir filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, claiming assets of $10 million and liabilities of $21 million. Plans were to suspend service for 30 days then re-orient the carrier's business plan with flights to leisure destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando. Airline officials initially hinted that Peoria would be included in its plans.

AccessAir was in fact reborn after John Ruan, the president of a Des Moines-based trucking firm Ruan Transportation, took the helm as primary investor. Daily flights between Des Moines and Chicago Midway Airport began in November 2000. Lack of passengers doomed the carrier a second time, and service ended for good in February 2001.

What if AccessAir had succeeded? Had the carrier avoided the summer booking fiasco, it would have been at a minimum $9 million richer, likely extending its life into the year 2000. But the economy was poised for a slowdown in 2000, and would slide into recession by Spring 2001. If that didn't kill AccessAir in its original form, 9/11 would have for sure.

The carrier's route network was ill-conceived, relying solely on point-to-point passengers flying from small cities to large ones. In a deregulated environment, point-to-point service only works between large markets (a la Southwest Airlines). Small cities can support limited, point-to-point service but only to leisure destinations (a la Allegiant Air).

Perhaps a shift in emphasis to leisure destinations (Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix, Tampa/St. Petersburg, etc.) from small Midwestern cities would have saved the carrier? Revenue from those routes might have enabled sufficient cash flow to risk continuing a limited number of flights to business destinations as well. Unfortunately, events unfolded differently and we'll never know an alternative future for AccessAir.

AMERICAN EAGLE (American Eagle Airlines)
 On Januay 7, 1999, American Eagle replaced one of six daily Chicago-O'Hare roundtrips on ATR-72/42 turboprops with a new 50-seat Embraer 145. An evening arrival (actually begun January 6) and a morning departure proved insufficiently competitive with United Express, so a second roundtrip switched to the Embraer 145 on April 5. The second upgrades apparently prompted the carrier to reduce service to five roundtrips. Third and fourth roundtrips switched to jets on November 26 and December 19, respectively. At least one of these flights was operated with a smaller Embraer 135, equipped for 37 seats.

It should be noted that American Eagle ended Quad Cities/Springfield to Chicago-O'Hare routes July 31, theoretically giving PIA a bigger share of the western Illinois market.

NORTHWEST AIRLINK (Mesaba Airlines)
Northwest Airlink's three roundtrips to Detroit (via Bloomington/Normal) and four roundtrips to Minneapolis/St. Paul - all on 33-seat Saab 340 turboprops - remain unchanged through 1999. In fact, the carrier was the only one not to operate jet aircraft here during this time, though by March it did have 69-seat AVRO RJ85 jets, and had just ordered 54 Canadair CRJ200s.

TRANS WORLD AIRLINES/TW EXPRESS (Trans States Airlines)
A 20 percent drop in Peoria traffic during 1998 due to numerous flight cancellations proved embarrassing for TWA. So bad that Peoria Charter Coach began twice-daily bus service between Peoria (Bradley University) and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on February 1, 1999. The situation proved intolerable when AccessAir began service here.

Just two weeks after AccessAir started service, Trans World Airlines announced that it would replace two daily TW Express Peoria-St. Louis roundtrips with DC-9s. Begun April 5, 1999 it marked the first time in eight years the carrier served the Peoria market directly, and its third entrance since 1947. Trans World Express continued to run seven daily, later reduced to six (still fewer on weekends), Peoria-St. Louis roundtrips on ATR-72/42 turboprops.

Initially, the DC-9s used Gate 5, which served as TWA's old gate from 1986 to 1991. Then by late April, a jetway was added to Gate 3 on PIA's newly-extended east concourse for use by TWA jets.

It is obvious that AccessAir's presence prompted TWA to put jets in the Peoria market, helping the carrier (with complimentary TWE flights) regain the top spot here. Likewise, AccessAir's exit meant the end of TWA jet service. Within a few days of AccessAir's final departure, TWA announced it would end DC-9 service effective January 10, 2000. TW Express reverted to eight roundtrips daily between Peoria and St. Louis all on turboprop aircraft.

The news wasn't all bad. In early November 1999, TWA announced a deal with Chautauqua Airlines to operate up to fifteen 50-seat Embraer 145s for TW Express out of St. Louis by Summer 2000. Initially, these jets were intended to open up new markets (not Peoria), but the situation changed with the loss of mainline TWA jet service. In mid-December, it was announced that Peoria would be one of two inaugural markets for TW Express regional jet service beginning in late-February.

UNITED EXPRESS (Air Wisconsin, Atlantic Coast Airlines, United Feeder Service)
Having restored Peoria to Chicago-O'Hare jet service on December 15, 1998 with two daily roundtrips, Atlantic Coast Airlines dba United Express helped to trigger a stampede of new jet service on other carriers. But the carrier's service remained unchanged through 1999. Same for Air Wisconsin's twice-daily jet service to Denver, which was operated by 89-seat BAe-146s on roundtrip PIA-MLI-DEN and DEN-PIA-MLI-DEN itineraries.

In October, it was announced that United Feeder Service would end its relationship with United Air Lines. The carrier operated two roundtrips between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare on 64-seat British Aerospace ATPs. Sometime between December 1999 and early February 2000, Air Wisconsin replaced the UFS flights here with 32-seat Dornier 328 turboprops.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS REGIONAL AIRPORT - STILL A THORN IN PIA'S SIDE
In August 1998, CIRA commissioners approved funding and and construction of a new, much-needed $27.5 million passenger terminal, to be located a half mile east of the existing facility. The project received a boost earlier in the year when aviation consultant Michael Boyd predicted that passenger traffic could double in five years.

Double failure by AirTran Airways' to obtain New York-LaGuardia slots for service to several cities including Bloomington-Normal and Moline didn't stop CIRA officials from pursuing East Coast nonstops. In July 1998, CIRA and Indianapolis-based Chautauqua Airlines (a USAirways affiliate) petitioned the FAA for two slots exemptions each at New York-LaGuardia and Washington National Airport. Service would use 50-seat Embraer 145s, but was contingent on Congress approving increased slots at both airports.

By Spring 1999, it was clear the slots wouldn't be made available for New York service, but late in the year, CIRA was still trying to obtain a Washington, DC route, though not on Chautauqua Airlines. Possible American Eagle regional jet service to Dallas/Ft. Worth was put on hold during the year, but introduction of AVRO RJ85 jets on Northwest Airlink looked like a possibility.

Airborne Express revealed plans in May 1999 to relocate its DC-9 air cargo flights to CIRA, which became a reality in 2000. Officials claimed the move wasn't designed to lure PIA's air cargo service, but it proved to be only the first of two successful attempts to lure a cargo carrier from PIA.

Most depressing was that after 44 years, Peoria lost its status as Central Illinois' busiest commercial airport. Despite new service offered by AccessAir and equipment upgrades to Chicago-O'Hare and St. Louis, PIA suffered a slight drop in passenger traffic in 1999. That year it handled 435,886 passengers, 1.16% less than 1998. Despite promises of increased regional jet service during 2000, high air fares risked further decline in traffic. CIRA beat PIA with 436,051 passengers in 1999. Although the difference was a mere 165 passengers, the symbolism couldn't be ignored.

CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP
In late 1998, Bruce Carter announced he was leaving to become the Quad City International Airport's aviation director. PIA's assistant director, Fred Traub, was quickly named interim replacement. In June, Traub, an airport employee since 1967, beat 50 candidates to become director.

AIRFIELD CHANGES, IMPROVEMENTS
Air cargo volume grew again in 1999 to a record 60.8 million pounds. That summer, the airport authority slated part of a $2.2 million improvement plan for air cargo ramp expansion and a second taxiway to accommodate larger planes (likely Emery Worldwide DC-8s) that have a difficult time manuevering into a parking position. Also notable was that due to proximity to Smithville Road, Runway 31 was shortened 1,000 feet by a displaced threshold. A plan to relocate Smithville Road's intersection with Airport Road a short distance south eventually solved this issue and Runway 13-31 was restored to its intended 10,000-foot length.

NEWSPAPER SILLY SEASON '99
Increased local coverage of commercial aviation reflected the high frequency of air service changes. Unfortunately, sorting through the naked sensationalism to find the facts proved more irritating than scratching a chalkboard. A certain Peoria Journal Star reporter frequently bungled his articles with bad information, excessive wordiness, speculation, repetition and cliches (too many to repeat here). I won't provide his name, because I'd feel bad about razzing him publicly. We exchanged a few emails back in 2001. I gave him a heads up on one news item, and he alerted me to a few upcoming articles. Among the lowlights -

A March 1, 1999 article covering AccessAir's inaugural of Los Angeles service contained bad history provided by a source who should have known better.

"Only once before did Peoria have direct jet service to both coasts. That was for a brief time in the mid-1980s, via now-defunct Ozark Air Lines, Peoria airport officials said."

In truth, Peoria had "direct" service to both coasts from 1977 to 1981 (Ozark to New York and Washington, DC, and later Baltimore, and Continental to Los Angeles). The "mid-1980s" are best defined as 1983 to 1986, by which time such service had been long gone.

An April 9 article entitled TWA shopping around for new Peoria carrier, was full of speculation and editorializing, and earned a critical forum letter by Mark Abels, Vice President of Corporate Communications for TWA. The reporter had learned that Trans States Airlines' contract was set to expire in October and created an article on that basis. He quoted both carriers' marketing officials, generally jumping to conclusions rather than using facts. As it turned out, TWA entered into a new, five-year agreement with Trans States.

SCHEDULES, ROUTE MAP
To show maximum jet service and destinations, I compiled individual airline timetables to create a complete schedule for November 1999. During [most of] that month, Access Air provided four weekday departures linking Peoria with Los Angeles (via Colorado Springs, Des Moines and/or Moline) or New York-Guardia. American Eagle offered five weekday departures to Chicago-O'Hare on a mix of regional jets and turboprops. Northwest Airlink provided seven weekday departures (three Detroit one-stops, four Minneapolis/St. Paul nonstops) on turboprops. TWA and TW Express offered two and six weekday departures, respectively, to St. Louis. United Express provided four daily departures to Chicago-O'Hare using a mix of regional jets and turboprops and two daily roundtrips (most via Moline) to Denver. In total, PIA saw 30 weekday departures (twelve on jets), nonstop or direct, to nine cities.

- David P. Jordan