Peoria Int'l Airport Air Service Detail & Analysis - July 2022

It is time for my annual update on local airline service. 

A summer month is best for this update. I used July in last year's update, and I have every reason to do so this year. Barring last minute changes, the schedules and route map below are accurate. So let's delve into the present situation. 

ALLEGIANT AIR
Fort Lauderdale service resumed on December 15, 2021, giving PIA ten nonstop destinations on a single carrier. This new destination requires an update to last year's route history. Notably, Allegiant Air is operating all "normal" routes it ever started since it began flying here in 2004. 

Las Vegas, NV - March 3, 2004
St. Petersburg/Clearwater, FL - December 13, 2006
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ - October 27, 2007
Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers, FL - June 28, 2012
Orlando (Sanford), FL - November 14, 2014 (See Note 1)
Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, FL - May 24, 2017
Nashville, TN - June 4, 2020
Sarasota/Bradenton, FL - May 27, 2021
Denver, CO - May 28, 2021
Fort Lauderdale - December 15, 2021 (See Note 2)

(1) Present service is the third incarnation. Flights first started on May 26, 2005 but were dropped that December due to weak load factors. Service resumed November 16, 2007 but was suspended again at the conclusion of the 2008 summer season due to rising fuel prices. That these have been operating without interruption (save for seasonal lulls), for nearly eight years is good news. 

(2) Allegiant Air previously offered Fort Lauderdale nonstops from December 13, 2007 through May 2008. Service was suspended due to rising fuel prices, though this was considered a "test" route. Service resumed on December 15, 2021. 

Schedules for July 2022 show most flights operated with Airbus A320 equipment. Schedules don't distinguish between 177-seat A320s or brand-new 186-seat A320SEOs. Las Vegas flights, and a limited number to Phoenix-Mesa and St. Petersburg/Clearwater, are operated by smaller 156-seat A319s. 

FUTURE - Unfortunately, massive inflation driven by poor government policies stimulating demand and constraining supply, made worse by sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, will soon crash the economy and significantly reduce demand for leisure travel. Expect Allegiant to chop frequencies by late-summer. 

Half of Allegiant's offerings are seasonal - Denver, Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Nashville and Sarasota/Bradenton. Don't be surprised to see these routes suspended indefinitely. Year-round destinations - Las Vegas, Orlando-Sanford, Phoenix-Mesa, Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers and St. Petersburg/Clearwater - will see reduced frequency, some of which may be suspended during the off season. 

I wish I could offer more optimism, but reality is in the way. 

Someday, common sense will return, and so will local airline traffic. Allegiant Air and VivaAerobus presumably still plan a partnership, announced late in 2021. As a result, Peoria may get its first foreign carrier, as well as long-coveted nonstops to Cancun, Mexico by 2026. San Jose del Cabo is another potential destination for the more distant future. 

AMERICAN EAGLE (Envoy Airlines, Mesa Airlines, PSA Airlines)

Service offered in July 2022 is unchanged from a year ago, with two daily nonstops to each of three American Airlines hubs. 

- PSA Airlines offers two daily roundtrips between Peoria and Charlotte with 65- (or 67-) seat Canadair CRJ700 aircraft

- Envoy Airlines provides two daily roundtrips between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare on 50-seat Embraer 145s. 

- Mesa Airlines flies two roundtrips daily between Peoria and Dallas/Ft. Worth on 76-seat Canadair CRJ900s. 

FUTURE - Long-term, Caterpillar's decision to move its Global Headquarters from suburban Chicago (Deerfield) to the Irving, Texas in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area may yield more business travelers on American Eagle's PIA-DFW nonstops, as not everyone will have access to corporate jets. Short-term, the soon-to-crash economy will reduce business travel, so traffic will likely decline for the time-being. That may actually solve a growing pilot shortage. If crashing demand leads to loss of flights, reduction in frequency to Charlotte, and maybe Chicago-O'Hare, will be possible until fuel prices moderate and traffic returns.

UNITED EXPRESS (Air Wisconsin)

Twice-daily service to Chicago-O'Hare is being offered by Air Wisconsin. No change from last year except that Air Wisconsin operates all local service. That carrier operates both a late-morning turnaround and a Remain-Over-Night (RON) flight using 50-seat CRJ-200s. 

FUTURE - Massive inflation and the resulting spike in fuel prices will result in higher fares and declining traffic. It may get worse. United [Express] tried to suspend service here in April 2020 after receiving CARES Act money after government-imposed COVID lockdowns. Fortunately, its petition was denied. But CARES Act restrictions are no longer in effect so service suspensions do not require regulatory approval. Don't be surprised if United Express pulls its twice-daily service here. Traffic is insufficient for larger regional jets, and economic reality will soon mean traffic is insufficient for those presently in use. I hope I'm wrong, but things will get rough soon. 

PASSENGER TRAFFIC RECOVERS

Peoria Int'l Airport handled 326,861 passengers in 2020. In 2021, it handled 480,006 passengers as air travel began recovering from the "pandemic" panic. These numbers were made available on PIA's statistics page. They were likely placed there quietly, which explains the lack of media coverage. Monthly stats have been withheld. Nobody wants to report declining traffic. Only broken records seem to be relevant anymore. 

Will 2022 traffic beat 2021? I assume traffic has been running higher than 2021. Unnecessary mandates have been curtailed and the public is flying again. If inflation and rising fares kills demand, however, 2022 traffic may dip below 2021. 

FUTURE AIR SERVICE
There is little reason to expect Delta [Connection] to resume its Peoria-Atlanta nonstops until business travel returns to COVID pre-lockdown numbers. Given the present problem with massive inflation, rising fuel prices and fares, that won't happen anytime soon. Service out of Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport must suffice for the time being. 

AIR CARGO

United Parcel Service freighters stop at Peoria in each direction on flights between its Louisville (KY) and Rockford (IL) hubs. Flight No. 617 operates late-evening southbound Monday through Friday and Flight No. 618 operates Tuesday through Saturday in the pre-dawn hours. Most flights are operated by Airbus A300-600Fs, though similar-sized Boeing 767-300Fs cover some flights. The carrier is the only one using dedicated freighters here, and handled 17 million and 20 million pounds of cargo here in 2020 and 2021, respectively. 

FLIGHT SCHEDULES, ROUTE MAP

My sources for the July 2022 schedules below are the carriers' online schedules. As usual, Allegiant Air literally schedules the same flights week-to-week at different times by a few minutes. Few flights operate at the same times more than once a month. Thus, there are numerous entries, but in reality only a small number of flights. There are four each on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and six on Saturday. There is a single roundtrip between Peoria and Punta Gorda/Ft. Walton Beach on Tuesday, July 5. Las Vegas nonstops will be reduced to thrice-weekly after Saturday, July 16. 

In summary, PIA offers 13 nonstop destinations on three carriers. Allegiant Air flies 26 weekly departures (four to six daily) to Denver, Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando-Sanford, Phoenix-Mesa, Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers, Sarasota/Bradenton and St. Petersburg/Clearwater. American Eagle flies six daily departures to Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare and Dallas/Ft. Worth. United Express flies two daily departures to Chicago-O'Hare. Thus, daily departures by all three carriers total 12 to 14.

- David P. Jordan