Peoria Station

Air Wisconsin's recent decision to leave the American Eagle network will mean changes at both Peoria and Bloomington/Normal airports early next month. Presently, Air Wisconsin offers a Remain-Overnight (RON) service, arriving in the evening from Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, with a return departure the next morning. A 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 is being used. Envoy Airlines provides a late-afternoon turnaround from Chicago-O'Hare on 65-seat Embraer 170 equipment.  Air Wisconsin operates its final departure the morning of April 3. The April 3/4 RON will be operated by a 76-seat Envoy Airlines Embraer 175. Then, on April 4, SkyWest Airlines takes over all service, offering three daily roundtrips using Bombardier CRJ700 equipment with 65 seats. This means not only an increase in frequency, but also a significant increase in seating capacity.  American Eagle service between Chicago-O'Hare and Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) includes ...

My first attempt was a little clumsy. Breeze Airways, an Ultra Low-Cost Carrier (ULCC), began serving Springfield in early December with twice-weekly nonstops to both Orlando and Tampa. I had to wait nearly four months to see the action. That's because initial service was on weekday mornings. Orlando flights started on Mondays and Fridays but shifted to Wednesdays and Saturdays in mid-January. This gave me hope, but freezing weather or fog thwarted my plans into February.  Then the schedule for Orlando turnarounds switched to evenings. I had to wait until Daylight Savings Time went into affect March 10 before sufficient sunshine would be available.  I got down there too late to capture an American Eagle CRJ200 on approach to Runway 22, and though the Breeze Airways jet might follow the same approach. It was too late to change locations when I discovered it was on final for Runway 31.  Whatever happened afterward required some creativity. Next time, I will do better. ...

I wish I could report that United Express is going to resume Peoria-Denver nonstops, but I can't. But perhaps this news is the next best thing. Thanks to a regular commenter, I can announced that on March 31-April 1, 2019 Air Wisconsin dba United Express is expanding daily service between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare from four to five roundtrips. Saturday service increases from three to four.  In April, flights will be operated by a mix of 50-seat regional jets for the time being (Bombardair CRJ200s and Embraer 145s). Beginning April 29, all flights will be operated by CRJ200s. The expanded service lasts at least through the summer (I checked as late as Tuesday, October 1 and there still five roundtrips). Hopefully, this is a sign that other carriers are picking up passenger traffic after the loss of Delta Connection flights to Detroit, which ended November 26.  - David P. Jordan

Believe me, the events of 1986 will leave your head spinning! Signs of an air service boom came early in the year. The Peoria Journal Star reported January 7 on Republic Airlines' interest in serving Peoria, as well as plans by an unnamed carrier to offer jet service to Chicago. More on those later. By 1986, the American economy was booming.  From November 1985 to July 1986, the oil price per barrel dropped from $30 to $12. Thus, airlines also benefitted from reduced expenses. A simultaneous surge in capacity brought lower fares. Peoria shared in this prosperity. Better yet, locally-based Caterpillar returned to profitability and sales were growing again. Here's a run-down of happenings by airline for the year. AIR WISCONSIN Beginning March 2, four roundtrips were operated on weekdays (fewer on weekends) between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare. In mid-year, all four operated to and from Springfield, giving the carrier eight weekday departures out of Peoria.  When ...

The year 1985 offered a sample of what was to come in the last half of the 1980s - mergers and code-sharing.  AIR WISCONSIN ARRIVES PIA In late-January 1985, Mississippi Valley Airlines agreed to a takeover bid by Appleton, Wisconsin-based Air Wisconsin. The latter absorbed MVA on June 1 that year, and continued using MVA's F-27/Shorts 360 fleet at PIA. I can't recall seeing a Shorts 360 painted in Air Wisconsin's green, orange and white colors, so they probably remained in MVA's blue, yellow and white until finally withdrawn from here by Spring 1986.  On July 20, 1985 Air Wisconsin began sharing United Air Lines' two-letter designator code (UA) on its Chicago-O'Hare flights, thus beginning the two carriers' close relationship which would last for many years. Two of Air Wisconsin's five PIA-ORD roundtrips were cut October 27 due to an aircraft shortage. Ironically, exactly a month earlier one of the airline's executives visited the city t...