I am curious to know when the control tower at Galesburg closed. Was GBG ever a Class D towered field? A pilot myself but can not find much history on what took place there. It would seem that Britt and Ozard used to serve that market. It would be interesting to know a little more about KGBG ops over the years. I believe at one time the field was located off of Henderson St on the north side. Thanks in advance.
The present Galesburg Municipal Airport was built in the late 1950s and dedicated on May 30, 1960. Ozark Air Lines began two daily flights in each direction between Chicago, Galesburg and St. Louis with DC-3s on August 1 that year. One of the Chicago (Midway) flights stopped at Peoria in each direction until the end of October. Galesburg's Chicago flights switched to O'Hare in 1961 or 1962.
Ozark replaced DC-3 service with Martin 404s between July 15 and September 1, 1965 and converted to FH-227s there by August 1, 1967.
It seems that Britt Airways replaced Ozark Air Lines at Galesburg on September 1, 1976. I remember seeing Britt props (Beech C-99s and Fairchild Metros) there during Stearman Fly-Ins in the early 1980s. The commuter carrier dropped Galesburg around January 22, 1989 and was replaced by American Eagle Shorts 360s.
American Eagle dropped GBG-ORD flights May 10, 1990 due to lack of business (average three passengers per flight) and the end of Essential Air Service subsidies.
DirectAir began flying 13-seat Beech 1300s on 17 weekly roundtrips between Galesburg and Chicago-Midway on November 1, 1991. Presumably, the carrier offered interline service with Midway Airlines but then that carrier ceased operations just 12 days later. A subsidy was available to the airline for two years, however, and service continued through the end of November 1993, by which time Direct Air had become "Midway Connection."
Great Lakes Aviation began offering Galesburg two weekday nonstop roundtrips (and one each on weekends) to Chicago-O'Hare on April 2, 1995 using 19-seat Beech 1900s. Service lasted until January 7, 1997.
Galesburg Municipal Airport has lacked scheduled airline service since that time.
I remembered a small tower on the east side when I was there in the early 1980s, but can't recall if it was in use. I know that a 1993 collision between two small planes at intersecting runways brought attention to the lack of a tower.
It is time for my annual update on local airline service. A summer month is best for this update. I used July for 2024'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 2025 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 some Las Vegas and Punta Gorda flights. Brand new Boeing 737 Max 8-200 aircraft began appearing on St. Petersburg/Clearwater nonstops as early as February 2025 and are now also used on Orlando-Sanford nonstops. These aircraft are equipped with 190 seats. Seasonal nonstops to Destin/Fort Walton Beach and year-round nonstops to Phoenix-Mesa and Punta Gorda have gained one weekly roundtrip each as compared to last year. So there are now...
After I left the downtown library, I checked to see if BNSF's M-PEIGAL was in the East Peoria Yard, but could not find it. I did notice a headlight down toward Iowa Junction so I circled back via I-474 and found a couple of orange geeps on the point of a covered hopper train waiting at Kickapoo Yard (with the train stretched into Bartonville). Shortly, the crew asked for permission from Iowa Junction to the East Lead. The first 28 cars are probably phosphate empties returning to Florida via TP&W and CSX. The 26 loads are some kind of dry bulk fertilizer, possibly urea. These could be going to the Iowa Interstate, TP&W or both. CAPTION: The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Lead 2 rolls by Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois early evening Friday, August 15, 2025. TPW 5010 and IMRR 2108 have 54 cars (28 empties/26 loads). Dry fertilizer loads and empties were pulled from Mosaic Crop Nutrition LLC, located south of Bartonville. - David P. Jordan
Tuesday's Union Pacific MPECL was short, but I expected such as KJRY interchange moved on Friday's train. CAPTION: Union Pacific train MPECL (Manifest, Peoria IL to Clinton IA) rolls across W. Farmington Road shortly after leaving Peoria, Illinois late-afternoon Tuesday, May 7, 2024. UP 7099 and UP 8950 have 29 cars. - David P. Jordan
On airliners.net Delta is ending BMI-MSP in the latest OAG release.
ReplyDeleteThanks...I wonder if Frontier Airlines' new Denver service is a factor?
ReplyDeleteI am curious to know when the control tower at Galesburg closed. Was GBG ever a Class D towered field? A pilot myself but can not find much history on what took place there. It would seem that Britt and Ozard used to serve that market. It would be interesting to know a little more about KGBG ops over the years. I believe at one time the field was located off of Henderson St on the north side. Thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteGalesburg Municipal Airport lacks a control tower.
DeleteThe present Galesburg Municipal Airport was built in the late 1950s and dedicated on May 30, 1960. Ozark Air Lines began two daily flights in each direction between Chicago, Galesburg and St. Louis with DC-3s on August 1 that year. One of the Chicago (Midway) flights stopped at Peoria in each direction until the end of October. Galesburg's Chicago flights switched to O'Hare in 1961 or 1962.
ReplyDeleteOzark replaced DC-3 service with Martin 404s between July 15 and September 1, 1965 and converted to FH-227s there by August 1, 1967.
It seems that Britt Airways replaced Ozark Air Lines at Galesburg on September 1, 1976. I remember seeing Britt props (Beech C-99s and Fairchild Metros) there during Stearman Fly-Ins in the early 1980s. The commuter carrier dropped Galesburg around January 22, 1989 and was replaced by American Eagle Shorts 360s.
American Eagle dropped GBG-ORD flights May 10, 1990 due to lack of business (average three passengers per flight) and the end of Essential Air Service subsidies.
DirectAir began flying 13-seat Beech 1300s on 17 weekly roundtrips between Galesburg and Chicago-Midway on November 1, 1991. Presumably, the carrier offered interline service with Midway Airlines but then that carrier ceased operations just 12 days later. A subsidy was available to the airline for two years, however, and service continued through the end of November 1993, by which time Direct Air had become "Midway Connection."
Great Lakes Aviation began offering Galesburg two weekday nonstop roundtrips (and one each on weekends) to Chicago-O'Hare on April 2, 1995 using 19-seat Beech 1900s. Service lasted until January 7, 1997.
Galesburg Municipal Airport has lacked scheduled airline service since that time.
Thanks Dave. There is a tower on the field, but its definitely been abandoned for some time.
ReplyDeleteI remembered a small tower on the east side when I was there in the early 1980s, but can't recall if it was in use. I know that a 1993 collision between two small planes at intersecting runways brought attention to the lack of a tower.
Delete