Peoria Station

NINETEEN SEVENTY-TWO marked a decade since Peoria was a Trunk Airline stop. Although Ozark Air Lines offered expanded service in recent years, the Greater Peoria Airport Authority (GPAA) began sniffing around for an additional carrier. Meanwhile, Peoria was about to witness the birth of a second, locally-based commuter airline. M. A. T. S. AIRLINES In December 1971, Chicago & Southern Airlines president Richard Willard detailed plans for a new commuter airline to link Peoria with downtown Chicago (Meigs Field), Davenport, Detroit, East St. Louis (Bi-State Parks) Gary, Indianapolis and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Initially, it was to be called "Central Illinois Airline" and operate De Havilland DH-114 Herons . Eventually, remanufacturered Herons, called Saunders ST-27s, would be acquired by the new airline, a division of Peoria-based Manufacturers Air Transport Service (C&SA and MATS had stockholders in common). Willard was named division's vice-president and gen...

Another departure from Peoria-centric material. Delta Air Lines announced Wednesday that it will begin nonstop service between the Indiana capital and Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, France on May 24, 2018. Equipment will be 225-seat Boeing 767-300ERs (example shown on final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport on September 6, 2015). Connections beyond Paris will be available through Delta's Skyteam alliance partner, Air France.  Why is this significant? Because Indianapolis is getting its first scheduled intercontinental passenger flights. This may seem strange given that Indy is America's 15th largest city (864,164 residents in 2016) and that its metropolitan statistical area has reached 2 million. But proximity to much larger Chicago, which has long offered direct or nonstop service to Europe, and lack of hub status to offer sufficient connecting traffic are among factors relegating the city's passenger flights to North America. Until now.  Wor...