Peoria Station

Spirit Airlines A-319 (top) and Frontier Airlines A-320 (bottom) are shown in final approach to Chicago-O'Hare International Airport on Saturday, June 29, 2019 Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines plan to merge.  Denver, Colorado-based Frontier and Miramar, Florida-based Spirit announced the deal this morning . The $6.6 billion deal to combine the nation's two largest Ultra-Low Cost Carriers (ULCC) will, if approved by regulators, create its fifth-largest airline.  Frontier Airlines' owners will control 51.5 percent of the merged airline while Spirit will own 48.5 percent. This may mean the carrier will retain the Frontier name.  Interestingly, Indigo had once controlled Spirit Airlines but divested of that carrier in July 2013. It acquired Frontier at the end of the year. Both carriers rely on a fleet of Airbus twin jets. Frontier operates A-320 and A-321s while Spirit has A-319, A-320 and A-321s.  LOCAL ANGLE Frontier Airlines offers seasonal nonstops out of Bloom...

  Delta Connection is resuming nonstops to the Motor City from CIRA. Officials made the annnouncement September 22 that daily service resumes October 11, 2020.  Flights from Detroit Metropolitan Airport will arrive at 4:17pm and leave at 5:10pm. Earlier service had been dropped in July 2016.  Rivian Automotive was influential in the deal. According to this WGLT article , the Detroit, Michigan-based automaker plans to use between 50 and 150 seats per week.  Carl Olson, airport director, said a deal to resume Detroit service had been made back in February but startup was delayed by COVID-19.  - David P. Jordan

Central Illinois Regional Airport's 2018 Annual Report is now available here . I don't recall such a document being being made public before. Perhaps the airport authority is using the occasion to publicize last year's traffic growth? But why they waited until May (when stats were quietly posted on the airport website in February) has me scratching my head.  The eleven-page report confirms that CIRA handled 364,482 passengers in 2018, a 9.1 percent increase over 2017. The addition of Frontier Airlines' service to Denver (seasonal) and Orlando, and strong load factors on the other carriers' flights contributed to the growth. The loss of Delta Connection service to Minneapolis/St. Paul came late in the year (November 26) so the effect on passenger volume was minimal.  The report is a good read. I only wish PIA would do the same.  - David P. Jordan

Bloomington-Normal is losing its nonstop service to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Thanks to a tip from commenter on my Ask PeoriaStation post, I did found that Delta Connection is dropping its nonstop service in that market. Last service will operate Monday, November 26. A 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet has been used for these flights since they started in 2010. There are two possible reasons for this move. First, 50-seat CRJ200s are being phased out and thin markets such as CIRA-MSP can't support the larger jets. Service out of Peoria may benefit.  Another reason may be the re-introduction of service by Frontier Airlines to Denver on September 24. Multiple connection opportunities and low fares will no doubt require Delta to compete (by lowering fares) or suffer lost business. After November 26, Delta Connection will be providing CIRA service to just one hub - Atlanta. UPDATE (Aug. 24):  Service to Detroit ended in July 2016, so the end of Minneapolis/St. Paul service...

I still don't have hard numbers, but this article  tells us that Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport suffered a 12 percent decline in passengers in 2017. That drop means CIRA handled about 335,000 passengers last year. In 2016, it handled 381,109. Delta Connection's decision to drop Detroit service in July 2016 and the reduction of Minneapolis/St. Paul flights from one to two last year had to hurt local traffic.  Director Carl Olson cites a decline in business travel for the drop. As a result, the airport is looking at air cargo as a catalyst for growth. FedEx Express, which shifted its cargo flights from Peoria to CIRA, has grown there with potential for more.  For Olson, FedEx’s growth at CIRA is an example of how other companies in the industry might find success in this area. “We sit not only within the largest population concentration in the state after the Chicago metro area, but we’re also two hours from Indianapolis, two hours from...

I spent Friday afternoon and early evening shooting video of airliner arrivals and departures at Central Illinois Regional Airport. The airport serving Bloomington-Normal has far less activity than Peoria's facility but is easier to spot at and around. Despite some clumsy camera work capturing distant aircraft movements, I think the results were pretty good. An American Eagle turnaround from Chicago-O'Hare flown on a CRJ200 (painted in SkyWest "house" colors) used Runway 29 for both arrival and departure. All others used Runway 2. These were turnarounds from Minneapolis/St. Paul (Delta Connection CRJ200), Dallas/Ft. Worth (American Eagle CRJ900), Atlanta (Delta Connection CRJ900) and St. Petersburg/Clearwater (Allegiant Air A320). Due to its late arrival, I left before the Allegiant Air A-320 departure. Not this aircraft is painted for the "Make-A-Wish" foundation. - David P. Jordan