Peoria Int'l Airport Air Service Detail & Analysis - July 2025

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 28 weekly departures this month versus 25 in July 2024. Note that frequencies and routes operated will drop considerably in August with changes in seasonal demand. 

AMERICAN EAGLE (Envoy Airlines, PSA Airlines)
Air Wisconsin ended its relationship with American Airlines on April 4, so that carrier's three daily roundtrips between Chicago-O'Hare and Peoria are now operated by Envoy Airlines, which uses larger equipment (65-seat CRJ700s).

PSA Airlines handles all Charlotte and Dallas/Ft. Worth nonstops. Each route has two daily flights in each direction on 76-seat CRJ900 equipment. The latter also a third roundtrip, operated with a CRJ700 turnaround. 

UNITED EXPRESS (SkyWest Airlines)
SkyWest Airlines dba United Express now offers four 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. In June, a 76-seat Embraer 175 provided an afternoon turnaround. 

On March 30, daily roundtrip service between Peoria and Denver resumed for the first time in a decade. A 76-seat Embraer 175 is used for this service. 

FUTURE AIR SERVICE POSSIBILITIES
Peoria Int'l Airport came within 1,815 passengers, or 0.23 percent of tying its 2019 record in 2024 when it handled 687,601 passengers. Barring an unforeseen catastrophe, the 2019 record (689,416) will be broken in 2025, and probably by a significant margin. 

I don't see Delta Connection resuming service to Peoria and neither American Eagle or United Express are likely to add new routes. There is a possibility, however, that Allegiant Air will continue to expand capacity and perhaps a destination or two. Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Nashville and Sarasota/Bradenton are seasonal services, but it is possible one or two may go year round in the not-too-distant future. I would suggest Sarasota/Bradenton could eventually go year-round, or at least have its seasonal suspension shortened. 

The weakest of these are said to be Denver and Nashville, and Allegiant Air operates them with the same aircraft. The latter could have suffered a bit when United Express re-introduced Peoria-Denver nonstops March 30, but Airport Director Gene Olson indicated that both carriers are doing well on that route. Allegiant's service caters to seasonal, budget-conscious leisure travelers while United Express' service caters to business travelers and connecting traffic, so they may be complimentary, and thus are both viable. 

Like 2024, Allegiant Air only offered Fort Lauderdale nonstops during 2025's spring break period (March into April) 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. This also means Myrtle Beach may not be in the cards either. The carrier is reducing service at Los Angeles due to high costs, so that destination is unlikely now. 

One possible new destination I can see happening in the not-too-distant future is Austin, Texas. Twice-weekly nonstops gets you access to Texas' rapidly growing capital and music and outdoors scene. A rental car gets you close to nearby Houston and San Antonio. In early 2025, Allegiant Air ended its crew base at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport due to space constraints but future terminal expansion should enable growth. The South Terminal, used by Allegiant Air, is being closed in 2026, so operations will shift to the 34-gate main terminal. A new concourse is expected to open with 20 gates in 2030, and future expansion will add another 20. So don't expect such a new route for at least five years, but I believe it is coming. 

AIR CARGO
Peoria handled 21.9 million pounds of cargo in 2022. I have not seen any figures for 2023, but volume for 2024 was just 14.9 million pounds. One possible reason for the decline was that during COVID restrictions in 2020-2022, a significant reduction of passenger flights reduced capacity for belly cargo, thus shifting this business to dedicated freighters. Since 2022, however, Caterpillar probably shifted its emergency overseas tractor parts business back to passenger flights out of Chicago-O'Hare as normal capacity was restored. 

Per flightaware, recent activity by United Parcel Service shows flight 615 operating Rockford to Louisville via Peoria in Monday and Thursday evenings with either 767-300 or A300-600 equipment. Flight 618 has operated Louisville to Rockford via Peoria on Saturday mornings with either 767-300 or A300-600. Flight 620 arrives from Louisville on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings and returns to Louisville as Flight 619 evenings on the same days. This "tunraround" is operated with Boeing 757-200 equipment.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS REGIONAL AIRPORT

For many years, it seemed that Bloomington-Normal was destined to dominate Central Illinois' airline market, but 9-11, Southwest Airlines' purchase of AirTran Airways, the pilot shortage and COVID have caused much upheaval at CIRA. Even if it recovers from one downturn, another always comes. 

Presently, CIRA handles about half of PIA's passenger volume. July 2025 airline service is summarized below. 

- Allegiant Air offers Orlando-Sanford nonstops on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and St. Petersburg/Clearwater nonstops on Monday and Friday. The former's Tuesday flights end after July 29. 

- Envoy Airlines dba American Eagle offers two daily roundtrips to Chicago-O'Hare on Embraer 170 equipment, and two daily roundtrips to Dallas/Ft. Worth on Embraer 170/175 equipment. Chicago frequency was reduced from three to two when Envoy replaced Air Wisconsin by April 4. 

- SkyWest Airlines dba Delta Connection offers two daily roundtrops to Atlanta on CRJ900 equipment. 

So depending on the day of the week, CIRA sees just 6 or 7 commercial airline departures. That's below half of what PIA sees, and means the gates at its relatively modern (2001) terminal are empty for most of the day. Potential passengers from Champaign-Urbana, Decatur and Springfield apparently found alternatives (Peoria being one), and Delta Connection's Atlanta service may well only be sustainable if it attracts a significant volume of Caterpillar business traffic out Peoria. 

Frontier Airlines has apparently decided to end CIRA service for the third time. Seasonal flights to Denver operated from April to August 2024 but did not return this year. The decision to end service may have been made before United Express announced Peoria-Denver in December. Efficient use of the carrier's A-320 fleet is a likely reason for the carrier's exit. 

On the cargo front, FedEx Express Boeing 757-200 freighters stop at CIRA on a Memphis-Appleton (WI) route five days a week in each direction. Southbound flights (FDX 1374) stop here Monday through Friday evening while northbound flights (FDX 1377) stop here Tuesday through Saturday morning. Non-scheduled flights out of Laredo, Texas on McDonnell Douglas DC-9s, MD-80s or Boeing 727-200s handling batteries for Rivian have not operated for months. 

FLIGHT SCHEDULES, ROUTE MAP
My sources for the July 2025 schedules below are the carriers' online schedules. As usual, Allegiant Air sometimes 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 six "turnarounds" on Friday, five on Monday, four on Saturday and Sunday and three on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

In summary, PIA offered 13 nonstop destinations on three carriers in July 2025. Allegiant Air flies 28 weekly departures (three to six, depending on the day) 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 two daily departures to Charlotte, three each to Chicago-O'Hare and Dallas/Ft. Worth. United Express flies four daily departures to Chicago-O'Hare and one to Denver. Thus, daily departures by all three carriers total between 16 and 19, depending on the day of the week. 

- David P. Jordan