Peoria Station

Events involving PIA continued their rapid pace during 1983.  The year began with the area's largest employer, Caterpillar Tractor Co., on strike. Begun October 1, 1982, it lasted nearly 30 weeks until April 24, 1983. Although the strike had ended, the company continued to suffer declining engine and machine sales. Additional layoffs were announced shortly and people telling each other, "Will the last person leaving Peoria please turn out the lights?" And yet, passenger traffic at the Greater Peoria Airport began to grow again. Perhaps it was more a reflection of the national economy, which began showing signs of life in late 1982. Recovery continued into 1983 as inflation slowed, fuel prices declined and reduced tax rates helped fuel consumer spending and business investment. Some cite the end of fare wars that prompted travelers to drive to Chicago or St. Louis instead of flying out of Peoria.  Because Ozark had significantly reduced service at Peoria in 1981...

Many Peorians still recall the good old days when they could board an Ozark DC-9 and fly to the likes of Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Tampa and Washington, DC (later Baltimore) without changing planes. Those good old days ended in 1981-1982. ANALYSIS It is clear that the re-introduction of service here by TWA and reduced service as a consequence of the PATCO strike permanently, but pre-maturely, cut Ozark's schedule. So one might ask: How long would it have lasted otherwise? Ozark's decision to end its last roundtrip between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) on October 25, 1981 was forced upon it due to FAA regulations designed to minimize congestion. Unknown is when this would have occurred if not for the PATCO walkout. Ozark had dropped its last Moline to Chicago-O'Hare roundtrip on July 1, 1981. Weekday Champaign/Urbana to Chicago-O'Hare flights apparently ended with the strike or shortly thereafter. The airline maintained a weekday-only ORD-SPI...

As 1980 passed the baton to 1981, there was reason for optimism. Details of weekday departures per Ozark Air Lines' December 15, 1980 timetable offers evidence. Baltimore /1 flight, DC-9 (continues to LGA) Cedar Rapids /2 flights, DC-9, DC-9 (2nd continued to MSP) Champaign-Urbana /2 flights, DC-9 (continues to BWI* & LGA), DC-9 Chicago-O'Hare /3 flights, DC-9, DC-9, DC-9 Denver /2 flights, DC-9, DC-9 Detroit-Metro /1 flight, DC-9 Indianapolis /2 flights, DC-9 (continues to BNA & TPA), DC-9 Minneapolis-St. Paul /1 flight, DC-9 Moline /2 flights, DC-9, DC-9 St. Louis /3 flights, DC-9 (continues to MCO), DC-9, DC-9 (3rd continues to DFW) Springfield (IL) /2 flights, DC-9 (continues to STL & COU), DC-9 (continues to STL) * Baltimore/Washington International Airport changed its three-letter code from BAL to BWI effective October 26, 1980 . Weekday departures had risen from 20 to 21 and there were now two nonstops to Denver (one return flight continued ...

To understand events of 1980, we must begin in late-1979. The completion of the Interstate 474 bypass (and Airport Road interchange) on December 20 that year expanded PIA's catchment area, but unfortunately failed to compensate for an increasingly difficult period in local aviation history.  The UAW Local 974 struck area Caterpillar Tractor Company plant on October 1, 1979, forcing a reduction in manufacturing and logistics operations. The walkout ended in mid-December but reduced corporate (and probably leisure) travel, impacting passenger traffic at the Greater Peoria Airport. On October 6, 1979 the Federal Reserve changed its monetary policy as a means to slay inflation, resulting in much higher interest rates. Already suffering from rising unemployment, the national economy plunged into recession from January to July 1980. From May 5 through June 1, Ozark Air Lines was shut down due to a mechanic's strike. As a consequence of each event noted above, PIA passenger...

Beginning in the late 1970s, events surrounding the Greater Peoria Airport accelerated in frequency. These changes can be credited (or discredited, depending on your perspective) to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Therefore, this and many future posts in this series will focus on a single year. Ozark Air Lines vigorously opposed deregulation, warning proponents that it would result in the loss of service in smaller markets. The Greater Peoria Airport Authority supported deregulation initially, viewing the change as a means to obtain more airlines, but began to modify its view after the announcements of several service cuts. EFFECTS OF DEREGULATION There were cutbacks before deregulation. Sometime in 1978, probably summer, Ozark changed its Detroit-Peoria-Moline-Omaha routing to Detroit-Peoria-Des Moines. Citing the need to deploy its planes on other routes, this service was eliminated December 14. The reduction left Peoria with a single roundtrip to the Motor City, which wa...

In 1977, PIA's air service appeared poised to grow rapidly for the forseeable future. A newly-completed master plan spanning the next 25 years called for the construction of a six-gate concourse with an underground connector to handle a projected 600,000 passengers by 1980. A second six-gate west concourse would be needed by 1990 when traffic was expected to nearly double to 1.1 million. A similar east concourse would be needed by 2000 to handle a projected 2 million annual passengers.  Local officials' optimism was backed by reality thanks to the rapid buildup in service with the introduction of new nonstop or same-plane flights to Indianapolis, Louisville and Minneapolis/St. Paul in 1974, Denver in 1975, Detroit and Omaha in 1976 and new service by Continental Airlines to Chicago, Kansas City and Los Angeles in 1977. More was just around the corner. ATLANTA & FLORIDA In 1972, the Greater Peoria Airport Authority began soliciting air carrier interest in southea...

Having avoided the worst effects of the mid-1970s recession, Peoria was considered a "prosperity pocket." Major area employers like Caterpillar, Bemis, Hyster, Keystone Steel & Wire, Pabst, WABCO) actually posted record sales in 1974. Caterpillar sales grew another 21.6 percent in 1975 and the company employed 33,600 in the area at the start of the year. Some 8,000 had been added to the payroll since 1965 (mostly since 1971) and was expecting to add up to 9,000 more, mostly by 1980. So the local economy was good when Ozark Air Lines decided to expand its Peoria service offerings.  NEED FOR AN O'HARE ALTERNATIVE After the last flights shifted from Midway Airport in mid-1962, Chicago-O'Hare International Airport became the world's busiest. Since then, Peoria travelers had relied on O'Hare for most domestic and international connections, but increasing congestion from rapidly growing traffic prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1969 to...

Airport safety and security was the issue as 1973 dawned.  The Greater Peoria Airport began screening passengers on January 5. Use of a metal detector began in February. Understandably, Ozark Air Lines objected to a new security tax proposed by the Nixon Administration, which the airline claimed would penalize short-haul air travel. In Spring 1973, Airport Surveillance Radar  (ASR) was placed into service just west of the airfield, enhancing safety. Its continuous scan radius encompassed 40 miles and up to 10,000 feet.  The Greater Peoria Airport had every reason for optimism. The facility handled 300,000 passengers for the first time in 1972 and traffic was expected to rise rapidly through the decade. Then the disadvantages of being serviced by only one airline reared its ugly head. THE OZARK STRIKE Members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assocation (AMFA) struck Ozark Air Lines on April 19, forcing the carrier to suspend all scheduled operations. Among ...