United Express PIA-DEN Inaugural 3-30-25

Daily, nonstop service between Peoria and Denver has returned!

At 0918 hours, SkyWest Airlines dba United Express Flight No. 5430 departed for the Rocky Mountain metropolis on Runway 22. 

In September 2023, Peoria International Airport was awarded Small Community Air Service Development (SCASD) funds to entice an airline to link that facility with a western hub. Denver (United), Houston (United), Phoenix (American) and Salt Lake City (Delta) were among considerations, but Denver always stood out as the most likely suitor, given Peoria's historical air service links to that city.

HISTORY

Ozark Air Lines obtained Peoria-Denver route authority in 1966. A stop at Sioux City, Iowa was required in each direction. Although the airline added Sioux City-Denver later that year, Peoria service would wait nearly a decade. Ozark even asked for nonstop route authority in 1971.

Finally, on April 1, 1975 a single-daily roundtrip between Peoria, Sioux City and Denver began. On Seprember 1 of that year, service increased to twice-daily. Although Ozark had filed for nonstop route authority in 1971, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) had adopted a de facto policy of slowing or denying new route authority. This was purportedly due to a period of stagnant traffic, higher fuel prices and massive financial losses suffered by the airline industry. 

Hearings for nonstop authority began in 1975. Finally, on October 1, 1976, the CAB awarded Ozark its request. On February 1, 1977 one of the existing two-stop roundtrips became nonstop, with an Indianapolis tag-on. 

Ozark Air Lines gained competition when Continental Airlines replaced Kansas City with Denver as a stop on its daily Peoria-Los Angeles service on June 1, 1979. Both carriers fought for this market two years, and Ozark eventually offered two nonstops daily. Continental had the advantage as it was developing Denver into a large connecting hub. Ozark re-routed one Denver roundtrip via St. Louis on March 15, 1981. The other nonstop, and its Indianapolis tag-on, were dropped July 1, 1981. 

Continental had expanded service, offering a second daily Peoria-Denver roundtrip via Kansas City starting April 26, 1981. This service apparently lasted through January 1982. Through service to Los Angeles ended with the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike in early August 1981. A single daily roundtrip between Peoria and Denver continued into 1982. A second daily roundtrip was apparently added that summer, with both stopping at Omaha, Nebraska. 

Continental Airlines, like many legacy Trunk airlines, suffered financial losses as it struggled to adjust to deregulation. The carrier suspended operations on September 24, 1983 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Limited flights were resumed a few days later, but the carrier never served Peoria again. 

United Air Lines, however, saw an opportunity and began twice-daily Peoria-Denver roundtrips on April 1, 1984. One was nonstop (with a Toledo tag-on) and the other stopped at St. Louis in each direction (soon changed to Cedar Rapids). 

United offered mainline jet service between Peoria and Denver until February 8, 1995. United Express jet service continued in its place until 2003. The route was resumed with a single-daily roundtrip in 2007 but was discontinued in early 2015. 

Allegiant Air began offering twice-weekly Peoria-Denver nonstops in 2020. But United Airlines' Denver connecting hub offers far more potential. (Hopefully, both will continue to serve this market.)

CAPTION: A Denver-bound United Express Embraer 175LR rolls down Runway 22 at the Peoria Int'l Airport Sunday morning March 30, 2025. Daily nonstop roundtrip service resumed March 29/30 with a Remain-Overnight (RON). This service was last offered in early 2015. Small Community Air Service Development (SCASD) funds were used to lure these flights. Operated SkyWest Airlines, plane is N135SY, which first flew in February 2015.

- David P. Jordan