Transportation blogger David P. Jordan reports that “nonstop service linking Peoria with [Delta Air Lines’] Minneapolis/St. Paul hub will be reduced from three to two daily roundtrips on or about January 1, 2010.” This follows on the heels of last month’s Journal Star report that overall passenger travel is down. “Total passenger traffic in August was down some 5,000 passengers, about 11 percent, compared with the same period in 2008, making this August the second-worst month for decline in 2009.”
Nonstop flights on Delta to Atlanta, Georgia, were discontinued September 1.
As Caterpillar goes….. so goes Peoria. This isn’t good news. I have trips coming up! Grrr
I wonder how the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington is faring?
Any ideas on how this might effect any rail studies, etc?
It’s time to dissolve the airport authority and get this loser off the taxpayers’ back.
The local airport puts far more into the area economy than it takes out in tax dollars. I’d prefer the nation’s commercial airports run solely on rent and user fees, but it won’t happen. The airlines would have to pay more, which would only serve to concentrate flights at bigger cities and less at smaller ones, like Peoria. That won’t automatically mean passenger train service for Peoria, but instead more buses and autos on the highways.
Jon ,I think you would find Bloomington has lost more flights,
there fore lost more passengers. often times was more convient to drive there to make a connection than from PIA.Those flights are now gone.
Bloomington lost United [Express] to Chicago-O’Hare in November 2007, but quickly gained American Eagle to Dallas/Fort Worth. More recently, Northwest Airlink (soon to be Delta Connection) resumed a daily Minneapolis/St. Paul nonstop.
Together, AirTran and Delta Connection offer EIGHT daily roundtrips to and from Atlanta. Fares are cheap, but yields are extremely low. Hopefully, Delta will resume Peoria – Atlanta when the business travel market picks up.
Folks,
keep in mind that Delta/Northwest is NOT ENDING Peoria to Minneapolis/St. Paul, it is REDUCING flights. Perhaps the third roundtrip will resume in spring if traffic picks up.
$239 (including tax) round trip from PIA to Detroit at the end of the month. It would be a seven hour drive (one way to the suburb I am going to). Between gas and time, the one hour flight each way is a bargain! I sure hope there is enough business to keep the planes in the air.
rusty0707 writes
question do think it is bargain paying increased taxes for airport that hardly has any business duh duh uh
“hardly has any business”
– You mean the record number of passengers handled (564,000) in 2008?
– Scheduled air cargo flights by FedEx and UPS?
– Air National Guard and Army National Guard units?
– Business Aviation services by Byerly Aviation?
– Bradley Flying Association?
– Private business jet operations (Caterpillar and RLI/Maui Jim)?
– A Lifeflight helicopter operation?
– A recent visit by the world’s largest aircraft?
Yeah…hardly any business.
Yes, I consider it a bargain. Free parking, quick boarding, friendly shuttle driver, etc. Pack lightly or ship stuff ahead to yourself. There is a lot to be said for the time and energy saved. I would much rather spend that extra 12 hours at my destination than being on the road or stuck in traffic.