Peoria Station

Morning airline operations at Peoria Int'l Airport on May 25, 2026 Evening airline operations at Peoria Int'l Airport on May 25, 2026 It is time for my annual update on local airline service.  As usual, I use the month of July for my annaul analysis. 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 2026 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 used on Las Vegas and Orlando-Sanford routes. Brand new Boeing 737 Max 8-200 aircraft began appearing on St. Petersburg/Clearwater nonstops as early as February 2025 and are also used on some of the Orlando-Sanford nonstops. These new Boeing planes are equipped with 190 seats.  Compared to July 2025, the airline is offering four fewer weekly departures. The most significant change ...

I caught a little action at Peoria Int'l Airport this evening. I arrived my spot with just seconds to spare for the Allegiant Air 737 MAX-8. The American Eagle retrojet returned, and I stayed awhile to record more action, including the MAX-8's departure. Judging by the passenger terminal parking lot, business is good at PIA! CAPTION: Five commercial airliner movements are shown at Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria Int'l Airport Monday evening, May 25, 2026.  -Allegiant Air Flt 2904, Boeing 737 MAX-8 from Orlando-Sanford -SkyWest Airlines (United Express) Flt 6047, CRJ200 from Chicago-O'Hare -Envoy Airlines (American Eagle) Flt 3740, Embraer 170 to Chicago-O'Hare -PSA Airlines (American Eagle) Flt 5340, CRJ900 to Dallas/Ft. Worth -Allegiant Air Flt 2920, Boeing 737 MAX-8 to Orlando-Sanford - David P. Jordan

I caught a little action at Peoria Int'l Airport this morning. I missed its arrival on Runway 22 but did not expect to see the American Eagle retrojet, so I went back to see its departure. (I may go back this evening to get an Allegiant Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 scheduled from Orlando-Sanford.) CAPTION: Five commercial airliner movements are shown at Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria Int'l Airport Monday morning, May 25, 2026. -SkyWest Airlines (United Express) Flt 4780, CRJ200 to Chicago-O'Hare -Allegiant Air Flt 2465, Airbus A320-200 from Punta Gorda -SkyWest Airlines (United Express) Flt 5455, Embraer 175 to Denver -Allegiant Air Flt 2484, Airbus A320-200 to Punta Gorda -Envoy Airlines (American Eagle) Flt 3741, Embraer 170 to Chicago-O'Hare - David P. Jordan

United Express announced today that it will be linking both Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington-Normal with four daily roundtrips to Chicago-O'Hare starting April 30 and May 7, respectively. Champaign-Urbana media has been quick to post online stories. Look for an update later today. UPDATE: Central Illinois Regional Airport last had United Express service to Chicago-O'Hare in 2008. FM Radio 89.1 WGLT has a story here . Champaign-Urbana's local CBS affiliate, WCIA TV-3 has a story here . The expansion is part of an escalating war between American Airlines and United Airlines at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport over gates and dominance. Whether this big increase in capacity for Central Illinois air travelers is sustainable is a big question. Fares will come down and traffic will be stimulated at both airports, but how long it lasts depends on whether these services are profitable, or at least losses are minimal but the flights provide profitable feed to long haul domes...

As expected, Peoria International Airport set a new annual passenger record in 2025. At a news conference inside the passenger terminal this morning , Metropolitan Airport Authority director Gene Olson announced that 812,376 passenger were handled during the past year. The previous record was 689,416 passengers, which was set in 2019. The airport nearly broke its 2019 record with 687,601 passengers in 2024.  The actual record was broken the first eleven months of 2025 when 741,724 passengers had used the airport. This was the first time PIA had exceeded 700,000 passengers in a year. With December traffic at 70,672 - the highest ever for that month - the 800,000 mark was exceeded as well.  PIA benefitted from stable or declining fuel prices, airlines engaging in fierce competition for market share and sufficient pilots to handle the resulting growth. Allegiant Air's low-fare nonstops as well as increased capacity by American Eagle and United Express has attracted travelers not ...

Peoria International Airport handled 741,724 passengers through November of this year, breaking the 2019 all-time record of 689,416 with one month still to go.   An article posted online today by WEEK TV-25 notes that PIA has broken passenger records for 14 of the last 16 months.  This post will be expanded and updated later this evening.  UPDATE In November 2025, PIA handled 62,474 passengers, which was the 14th record for the past 16 months. December's tally need only be 58,276 to reach the 800,000 mark for the first time. So this year, not only did it break 700,000 for the first time, there is the possibilty that it will also break 800,000!  If it does not reach 800,000 for the full year, it will be very close, and this means that passenger traffic will be up some 14 percent over 2024.  Passenger traffic will continue to grow in 2026, but not at the pace seen in 2025. Why? Because PIA's 2025 gains aren't likely to be matched in 2025. United Express increased...

I shot these scenes from shortly after 4:00pm to shortly after 5:00pm on Sunday afternoon. This is probably the busiest period of the day for the Peoria International Airport. United Express added a fifth daily Peoria to Chicago-O'Hare roundtrip on August 20 and re-arranged its schedule. Allegiant Air has reduced weekly departures from 28 to 18 this month due to seasonal demand, but should ramp up schedules late this year.  CAPTION: Six airliner operations at the Peoria Int'l Airport late-afternoon Sunday, August 24, 2025. All arrivals and departures used Runway 31. American Eagle Flight 5397 from Charlotte (CRJ900) United Express Flight 4411 to Chicago-O'Hare (CRJ550) United Express Flight 5874 from Chicago-O'Hare (CRJ200) Allegiant Air Flight 1097 to St. Petersburg FL (Airbus A-319) American Eagle Flight 5494 to Dallas/Ft. Worth (CRJ900) American Eagle Flight 5187 to Charlotte (CRJ900) - David P. Jordan 

The year 2002 marked PIA's return to the top as Central Illinois' busiest passenger air facility. As soon as 2003 dawned, however, threats of service cuts increased as the airline industry reeled from a shaky economy, financial losses, terror threats and new regulations. The year offered a lot of drama, so I'll analyze each carrier's service and end with a bright spot which continues to the present day. AMERICAN CONNECTION (Trans States Airlines) Having been relegated to secondary status (i. e., not part of the American Eagle network), former TW Express carrier Trans States Airlines was limited to providing "American Connection" feeder service to American Airlines' St. Louis hub.  American Airlines' rationale for acquiring TWA was in part to gain a reliever hub to Chicago-O'Hare, which had a cap placed on flights during the tumultuous summer of 2000. American's idea may have worked if not for 9-11 and the subsequent air travel slumps. Cutbacks ...

I found 2024 passenger stats for Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport! Radio station WGLT 89.1 FM posted a story May 27 with lots of good detail. Last year, CIRA recorded 165,701 enplanements and 163,947 deplanements for a total of 329,648. In 2023, these figures were 167,597 and 167,291, respectively, for a total of 334,888. So CIRA saw only a slight decline in traffic last year. One wonders, though, if continued commercial airline operations are sustainable. CIRA has never recovered after losing AirTran Airways in 2012. Southwest Airlines, which acquired AirTran, decided that CIRA did not fit into its plans. Capacity was cut and low-fare connections via an Atlanta hub ended.  What CIRA has going for it is Delta Connection nonstops to Atlanta, two roundtrips daily, on 76-seat CRJ900 equipment operated by SkyWest Airlines. This service draws travelers from through the Central Illinois region, including Peoria. Moline/Quad Cities is the only other Illinois facilit...

PIA is still on a role. WMBD Radio 1470 posted an article late this morning , detailing the great success Peoria International Airport has had in recent months. It handled 72,774 passengers in May 2025 and 78,892 in June. The latter is 20 percent higher than the same month in 2024! All airlines have added capacity - Allegiant Air by 10 percent, American Eagle by 20 and United Express by 67. Additional capacity and new service (Denver) reflects surging demand. Pricing is likely more reasonable, i. e. the airlines are not discouraging passengers from using small airports like PIA.  Director of Airports, Gene Olson, said the facility is attracting passengers from outside the Peoria region. I would interpret that as Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, Decatur and Springfield metro areas. As scheduled commercial airline service at those cities is quite limited these days, Peoria is benefitting from travelers who will drive some distance, but avoid Chicago or St. Louis if they can....

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...

I checked United Airlines website this evening and noticed United Express (SkyWest Airlines) has increased service between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare from three to four daily roundtrips. I assume this expansion was recent, perhaps this weekend.  I had feared the Denver service would mean reduction in Chicago-O'Hare service, but it seems the carrier has significantly increased capacity here.  Effective by Friday, American Eagle will be offering two daily roundtrips to Charlotte, three each to Chicago-O'Hare and Dallas/Ft. Worth, for a total of eight. United Express offers four daily roundtrips to Chicago-O'Hare and one to Denver, for a total of five. So the two regionals affiliated with "legacy" carriers now offer 13 daily roundtrips to four major hubs.  Allegiant Air offers anywhere from two to five turnarounds depending on the day of the week, linking Peoria with Las Vegas, Orlando-Sanford, Phoenix-Mesa, St. Petersburg/Clearwater and Punta Gorda year-round, De...

American Eagle is adding a third daily roundtrip between Peoria and Dallas/Ft. Worth. When I checked chnges on Charlotte and Chicago-O'Hare frequency and equipment early next month, I had not gotten far enough up the calendar to noticed that Envoy Airlines dba American Eagle is adding a late-morning turnaround to its schedule between Peoria and Dallas/Ft. Worth on Friday, April 4. Like the mid-afternoon turnaround and the Remain-Overnight (RON) flight, the new one will use 76-seat Embraer 175 equipment.  Although Charlotte service is cut from three to two roundtrips, Chicago-O'Hare gets three roundtrips, and now for the first time since larger, two-class equipment (initially Canadair CRJ900s) was introduced in February 2017, Dallas/Ft. Worth gets three roundtrips!  - David P. Jordan

Back in late-May I noticed online schedules showed PSA Airlines dba American Eagle adding a third roundtrip (late-morning turnararound) between Peoria and Charlotte on November 5.  I assumed the additional flight was added on that date but when I checked schedules sometime later, only two roundtrips were shown. I wondered if the expanded frequency even happened.  Apparently, it did, or had its start delayed.  Presently, the airline offers three daily roundtrips. A CRJ900 handles the late-morning turnaround and Remain-Overnight (RON) flights and a CRJ700 handles a late-afternoon turnaround. Unfortunately, on April 1, after its early-morning departure, the RON is discontinued, leaving one late-morning turnaround on CRJ900 and a late-afternoon turnaround on a CRJ700.  Peoria-Dallas/Fort Worth service remains unchanged with two daily roundtrips on Envoy Airlines Embraer 175 equipment.  - David P. Jordan

Someone at the Peoria Journal Star, our newspaper of extremely selective record, must have seen a comment I made recently on Peoria Dot Com, regarding their lack of coverage on local airport passenger traffic.  Well, what do you know, they actually posted an article on August and September records and even talked to the airport director. And not once did the article mention a restaurant! Peoria International Airport handled 57,353 passengers in August, and 53,796 passengers in September, beating 2019 figures for those months. The August figure exceeded by 1.3 percent the previous record for that month, which was set in 2019. Director of Airports, Gene Olson, doesn't believe 2024 passenger traffic will break 2019's record of 689,416 passengers. I hope he is wrong as the numbers are likely close. Unfortunately, the article fails to note that 2023 passenger traffic totaled 638,378. (Figure was posted on the airport's Facebook page on February 15.) Unfortunately, the article i...

The second-best ever for June. WCBU ran this article August 2. Peoria Int'l Airport's passenger numbers for June 2024 (65,488) are up 11 percent from June 2023 (59,071). No wonder American Eagle and United Express have been restoring frequencies... Gene Olson, the Airport's director, indicates that Small Community Air Service Development (SCASD) funds received last year may be used for service to Denver (United) or Phoenix (American) when aircraft become available. I'm betting on the former. - David P. Jordan 

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 ...

Peoria International Airport continues to grow! Thanks to an anonymous commenter, I've learned that American Eagle is adding a third daily roundtrip between Peoria and Charlotte, North Carolina on November 5. The new roundtrip will be in late-morning and will use 76-seat Canadair CRJ900 twinjets.  The expanded schedule will look like the following: Arrivals 10:17am 3:41pm 9:20pm Departures 7:20am 10:57pm 4:40pm I checked schedules into July and it appears the third daily roundtrip between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare is continuing for the time being.  Perhaps Delta Airlines will take notice, realize the Peoria market is ripe for competition and have Delta Connection resume Peoria-Atlanta nonstops?  UPDATE: Effective September 5, Envoy Airlines dba American Eagle is replacing one 50-seat Air Wisconsin CRJ200 early evening turnaround with an Embraer 170. The upgrade adds two-class service and about 15 seats.  - David P. Jordan

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. ...

American Eagle is adding a third daily roundtrip between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare on April 4.  The additional flights will be a morning turnaround. Daily departures will be at 6:39am, 11:34am and 4:44pm. Arrivals will be at 11:04am, 3:49pm and 9:12pm.  News of increased service comes shortly after the announcement that Peoria International Airport handled 638,378 passengers in 2023.  Schedules show the added service available for two months, but bookings could always lead to an extension. United Express resumed a third daily Peoria to Chicago-O'Hare roundtrip last July 8, and it continues to operate.  A pilot shortage, the consequence of raised federal qualifications and an "unexpected" rise in air travel following the end of COVID restrictions, eased somewhat in 2023. Part of this improvement, however, was due to reduced flying by regional carriers.  So the new service is likely being added back as traffic levels return to historic levels, and perhaps also for...