Peoria Int'l Airport Air Service Detail & Analysis - July 2024

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

A summer month is best for this update. I used July for 2023's update, and I have every reason to do so again this year. Barring last minute changes, the schedules and route map below are accurate. So let us delve into the present situation. 

ALLEGIANT AIR
Like last year, schedules for July 2024 show most flights operated with Airbus A320 equipment. They do not discern between 177-seat A320s or brand-new 186-seat A320SEOs. Smaller A319s, configured for 156 seats, are now only used on Las Vegas flights. Subsititutions happen and due to complexity with Allegiant Air schedules, the equipment shown below may be at times oversimplified. 

Seasonal nonstops to Destin/Fort Walton Beach and year-round nonstops to Phoenix-Mesa have gained one weekly roundtrip each as compared to last year. So there are now 25 weekly departures this month versus 23 in July 2023. 

Deliveries of 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was to start in 2023 but this has been delayed to the third quarter of 2024. I expect these will show up on Peoria flights shortly after entry into service. 

AMERICAN EAGLE (Air Wisconsin, Envoy Airlines, PSA Airlines)
As of April 4, the three regional carriers affiliated with American Airlines collectively offer pre-COVID schedules, but with a higher number of seats to Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Presently, PSA Airlines offers two daily roundtrips to Charlotte on two-class, 76-seat CRJ900s, Air Wisconsin offers three daily roundtrips to Chicago-O'Hare on 50-seat CRJ200s and Envoy Airlines offers two daily roundtrips to Dallas/Ft. Worth on two-class, 76-seat Embraer 175s.

If future schedules hold, seating capacity will increase to two of the three hubs. On September 5, Envoy Airlines replaces a 50-seat Air Wisconsin CRJ200 on an early evening turnaround from Chicago-O'Hare with a two-class, 65-seat Embraer 170. On November 5, a third daily Charlotte roundtrip begins using a 76-seat CRJ900. 

Increased frequency and larger equipment is likely due in part to future bookings, as well as an easing pilot's shortage and replacement of older 50-seat regional jets. 

UNITED EXPRESS (SkyWest Airlines)
SkyWest Airlines dba United Express offers thrice-daily roundtrips between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare using "Canadair Regional Jet" equipment. It is assumed that these are 50-seat CRJ200s, but the 55-seat CRJ550 has been known to appear on some flights from time to time. 

On September 1, a late-afternoon turnaround from Chicago-O'Hare begins, ramping up frequency to four daily roundtrips. All four will be operated with 50-seat CRJ200s. 

FUTURE AIR SERVICE POSSIBILITIES
Peoria Int'l Airport handled 326,861 passengers in 2020, 480,006 in 2021, 573,911 in 2022 and 638,378 in 2023. Given increased or planned increases in flight frequency and seating capacity, I expect PIA to break 2019's record 689,416 passengers in 2024. 

Will $500,000 in Small Community Air Service Development (SCASD) funds awarded last September be used to gain a western hub? 

Airport officials have mentioned Denver, Houston, Phoenix and Salt Lake City as possible targets. 

The first two are United Airlines hubs, and that carrier has previously offered Peoria nonstops to each one. Yet, the carrier's planned fourth Chicago-O'Hare roundtrip indicates no interest in resuming Denver or Houston nonstops. Allegiant Air already owns the local Peoria-Denver market anyway. 

American Airlines/Eagle is unlikely to overfly its Dallas/Ft. Worth hub to offer Phoenix nonstops. Like Denver, Allegiant Air already owns the local Peoria-Phoenix market. 

That leaves Salt Lake City, a Delta Air Lines hub. Perhaps Delta [Connection] could re-enter the Peoria market with a splash, restoring perhaps two daily Atlanta nonstops and offering a single-daily nonstop to the Utah capital to qualify for SCASD funds? With twice-daily nonstops to Atlanta already offered from Bloomington-Normal's nearby Central Illinois Regional Airport, I do not see it happening. Furthermore, if Delta [Connection] re-enters the Peoria market, Minneapolis/St. Paul is a better western hub. 

Allegiant Air only offered Fort Lauderdale nonstops March 7 to April 7 this year, so that route has only limited seasonal viability. Florida's Gulf Coast is far more popular for Central Illinois residents that its Atlantic Coast. 

So what are possible new destinations for Peoria in coming years? A planned joint venture between Allegiant Air and Mexico's Viva Aerobus stalled in August 2023 over U. S. concerns that Mexico has failed to fully implement a bilateral air service agreement between the two countries. In late-February, however, the two carriers asked the U. S. Department of Transportation to re-institute its Anti-Trust Immunity (ATI) application. 

If the application process is resumed and the two carriers' proposal is approved, Peoria can be expected to gain nonstops to two Mexican leisure destinations: Cancun and San Jose del Cabo. And if Viva Aerobus provides this service, Peoria gains scheduled flights on its first foreign carrier!

AIR CARGO
A recent change in flight intineraries by United Parcel Service has reduced the number of weekly flights and the size of aircraft on most flights, but the change may actually be the result of higher freight volume. 

For some time, Airbus A-300-600Fs stopped at Peoria in each direction on a route linking UPS's Rockford and Louisville hubs. Northbound flight # 618 stopped here Tuesday through Friday mornings, mainly to unload empty air cargo containers here. Southbound Flight # 619 stopped here Monday through Friday evenings to receive air cargo containers loaded with Caterpillar tractor parts. On Saturday mornings, a Boeing 767-300F operating as Flight # 620 stopped here enroute from Louisville to Rockford. 

The afternoon of Tuesday, June 7, I noticed a Boeing 757-200 at the Ronald W. Burling Cargo Terminal. It appears now that Tuesday through Friday, a Boeing 757-200 arrives here by sunrise, stays all day and departs in late-evening. The cycle begins Monday night when a 757-200 stops here enroute from Rockford to Louisville. Occasionally, an A-300-600F will be used, like Monday, June 24. The 767-300 continues to stop here Saturday mornings enroute from Louisville to Rockford.

Peoria handled 21.9 million pounds of cargo in 2022. I have not seen any figures for 2023, but must assume volume is higher. 

FLIGHT SCHEDULES, ROUTE MAP
My sources for the July 2024 schedules below are the carriers' online schedules. As usual, Allegiant Air literally schedules some of the same flights week-to-week at different times by a few minutes. More flights are operating at the same times than before, however, making it easier to create schedules. Allegiant Air offers four "turnarounds" on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, and two on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Saturday sees five "turnarounds." 

In summary, PIA offers twelve nonstop destinations on three carriers. Allegiant Air flies 25 weekly departures (two to five daily) to Denver, Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando-Sanford, Phoenix-Mesa, Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers, Sarasota/Bradenton and St. Petersburg/Clearwater. American Eagle flies seven daily departures to Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare and Dallas/Ft. Worth. United Express flies three daily departures to Chicago-O'Hare. Thus, daily departures by all three carriers total between 12 and 15, depending on the day of the week. If schedule changes this fall hold, that number will grow to between 14 and 17 per day. 

- David P. Jordan