Peoria Station

An Embraer 175 in the old colors on final approach to Chicago-O'Hare Intl Airport May 26, 2023 Central Illinois residents will soon be able to connect through Denver year-round. United Express will resume nonstop daily service between Peoria and Denver on March 30, 2025. The last time the carrier played this market was in early 2015.  This WEEK-TV News 25 article and video has good details. Departure to Denver will be at 0850. The return flight will arrive back here at 2050. The single-daily roundtrip will be operated on a 76-seat jet, most likely an Embraer 175 operated by SkyWest Airlines. A burning question is what will Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines do? The former offers seasonal service between Peoria and Denver on Mondays and Fridays. The airline is offering Saturday flights on December 21 and 28, and January 4 as well. Flights cater to the local market, and mostly budget-conscious leisure travelers. So United Express' daily service might have but a minor effect on ...

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...

It is hard to believe that more than 20 years have passed since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. My generation will always remember that day, which will live in infamy just as December 7, 1941 did to an earlier generation.  The world of commercial aviation was much different prior to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Flight 93. At PIA, before 9-11, you didn't have to be a ticketed passenger to go through security for a closer look at commercial airliners parked at their terminal gate. I took advantage of that freedom many times. So I will remember what was best about 2001 as I continue Peoria's commercial aviation history.  Despite the terror of late summer, the year 2001 was much improved over 2000. Let's review events by airline. AMERICAN EAGLE (American Eagle Airlines Inc.) American Airlines' regional partner offered five weekday roundtrips between Peoria and Chicago-O'Hare, all on 50-seat Embraer 145s. This was a good offerin...

I overlooked this one, which was announced September 28 .  Frontier Airlines is offering nonstop service to Tampa International Airport in Florida beginning December 17. Flights will be operating Mondays and Fridays.  Interestingly, this new service appears to be offered year-round. Flights shift to a thrice-weekly Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday pattern beginning Thursday, April 28, 2022. Tampa flights are shown through November 15.  I can't tell whether service will be offered by Airbus A-319 or A-320 aircraft, but it will one or the other (or both).  - David P. Jordan

Frontier Airlines will offer Las Vegas nonstops from Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) Starting August 12. Service will be offered on Thursdays and Sundays using 168-seat Airbus A-320 aircraft. Presently, Frontier offers Denver and Orlando nonstops thrice-weekly on a seasonal basis. Service to Las Vegas will be seasonal as well. Frontier's new flights are not the first time CIRA offered Las Vegas nonstops. AirTran Airways offered quad-weekly service from August 15, 2007 through April 8, 2008 on 137-seat Boeing 737-700s. Service was suspended until August that year due to rising fuel prices, but in fact never returned. It should also be noted that CIRA handled 183,190 passengers in 2020. This figure was down 56.5 percent from 2019 volume.  - David P. Jordan

Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport is again on a growth track, and is gaining another new destination. The Pantagraph reported Tuesday that CIRA handled 421,519 passengers in 2019. That's a 15.6 increase over 2018 when 364,482 passengers when through the facility's gates. The rise in traffic was attributed to Low Cost Carrier service by Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines. The former has just announced seasonal nonstops from CIRA to Destin/Fort Walton Beach from June 4 to August 16. Flights will operate Sundays and Thursdays.  - David P. Jordan

This past year was a good one for Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport. Passenger traffic in 2018 rose 9.1 percent, according to the airport statistics section on the airport's website . Total enplanements were 183,575 and deplanements were 180,907 for a total of 364,482. Compare that to the 333,932 passengers that it handled in 2017. Last year's numbers pale in comparison to this facility's all-time record of 579,265 in 2011, but any increase is a good sign.  Airport officials credit strong loads on all carriers, particularly Allegiant Air and on its newest carrier, Frontier Airlines. The latter began tri-weekly Denver nonstops began September 24 and tri-weekly Orlando nonstops began October 2. Passenger growth came despite Frontier's seasonal suspension of its Denver flights after November 17 (service resumes April 30) and the loss of Delta Connection nonstops to Minneapolis/St. Paul from November 26. CIRA offers service on four ca...

Until this morning, work and weather had prevented me from capturing a Frontier Airlines jet at Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA),  The Denver, Colorado-based airline recently resumed service there with nonstops to Denver and Orlando, September 24 and October 2, respectively. Flights operate between Denver and Orlando, stopping at CIRA in each direction Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Sunday morning's flight operated with a 138-seat Airbus A-319. On the tail was "Flip the Bottlenose Dolphin." I caught its arrival from Denver on Runway 11 and departure to Orlando on Runway 20. - David P. Jordan

Peoria Int'l Airport is reporting June 2018 passenger traffic... ...and it was the facility's best monthly passenger tally! Per press release Thursday, July 12 , PIA handled 64,784 passengers last month, breaking the prior record - 62, 645 just in March of this year. The best part, PIA's overall passenger count is also currently tracking 6 percent higher than the airport's best year ever: 2015. PIA saw a total 641,671 passengers in 2015. If it holds through the end of 2018, a 6 percent increase would give PIA an annual passenger count of 680,000. It remains to be seen, however, if Frontier Airlines' return to nearby Bloomington-Normal this fall, with nonstops to Denver and Orlando, will have an impact on local traffic. - David P. Jordan

Frontier Airlines is resuming service to Bloomington/Normal. It is the third time around for the Denver-based carrier, which served the Twin Cities in 1997-2001 and 2012-2015. This press release tells us that service to Denver begins September 24. On October 2, Orlando service resumes as does expanded service to Denver.  You can bet United Express will resume Peoria-Denver around this time.  - David P. Jordan

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...

The Peoria Journal Star posted online a story yesterday touting rising passenger traffic. Unlike most business news, this was prompted by something other than a press release. PASSENGER TRAFFIC DOWN SLIGHTLY THROUGH JULY Unfortunately, the article fails to provide passenger data for recent months. The airport touted record traffic for each of the first three months this year, but not since. I suspected business declined in April, and I was correct, at least according to figures from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics . BTS data excludes charter passengers and the newest figures are three months old for proprietary reasons, but we can use it determine trends. Using BTS figures, I came up with the following for the first seven months of 2017. *January - 47,536 *February - 46,148 *March - 59,836 April - 48,291 May - 51,166 June 57,815 July 55,622 Total - 366,414 So how does this compare to the first seven months of 2016? January - 43,387 Februar...