According to Delta Air Lines’ current timetables, jet service between Peoria and Minneapolis/St. Paul begins April 6. On that date, Pinnacle Airlines dba Delta Connection will begin operating two daily roundtrips between Peoria and MSP using 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets. These will replace a like number of flights currently operated by Mesaba Airlines with 34-seat Saab 340 turboprops.
The full merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines is nearly complete. Apparently, the Atlanta-based airline has identified a need for jet service in the PIA-MSP market. Service in that market was cut from three daily roundtrips just a month ago so the airline is restoring capacity through the use of larger aircraft.
Delta Connection will also continue to operate two daily roundtrips between Peoria and Detroit.
More Detroit Service for Bloomington-Normal
Nearby Bloomington-Normal’s Central Illinois Regional Airport (BMI) is getting a significant increase in service to Detroit beginning in April.
Currently, Pinnacle Airlines dba Northwest Airlink currently offers a single daily roundtrip flight between Bloomington-Normal and Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) using a 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet. Online schedules show that this flight will be discontinued effective February 10. Service resumes two days later, but on a different airline (Freedom Airlines) and with a different aircraft type (a 50-seat Embraer 145).
Those impending changes pale in comparison to what Delta has in store for Bloomington-Normal come April 6. On that date, Pinnacle Airlines resumes service on the DTW-BMI route with three daily roundtrips on 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets. There will remain just one daily roundtrip on Saturdays.
Delta will continue to operate four daily roundtrips between Bloomington-Normal and Atlanta.
- David P. Jordan
8 responses so far ↓
1
john q airtraveler
// Feb 5, 2010 at 10:24 pm
CIRA continues to dominate PIA in both flyers and flight options.
2
David P. Jordan
// Feb 6, 2010 at 8:56 am
It’s off and on. PIA beat CIRA in 2008, and both airports took a hit in 2009. Had Delta [Connection] not pulled its ATL flights, it’s likely PIA would have come out ahead.
3
Sam
// Feb 6, 2010 at 9:40 am
this is great news for me especially, working for Delta Connection in CAK its another option to get home if needed…can get to MSP and DTW out of CLE, we just have DTW and ATL out of CAK though, but its another option….hows that for alphabet soup?
Sam
4
Billy Dennis
// Feb 12, 2010 at 8:07 am
Seven days later, nothing about these new business development in Peoria’s one and only newspaper of record.
5
David P. Jordan
// Feb 12, 2010 at 8:38 am
It’ll be at least a month, Billy.
6
Peoria blogoshere update 2/26/2010 « Peoria Pundit
// Feb 26, 2010 at 5:34 pm
[...] been 21 days since David P. Jordan broke the news of Peoria to Minneapolis jet service and there’s been nothign in the “professional” [...]
7
Pantagraph Reports, PJStar Slumbers
// Mar 8, 2010 at 4:59 pm
[...] here on February 5, Delta [Connection] will increase its daily Detroit nonstops from one to three roundtrips on April [...]
8
Peoria Station got it right | Peoria Pundit
// Mar 10, 2010 at 5:16 am
[...] Jordan reported this on February 5. And he predicted it would be at least a month before the Peoria Journal Star picked up on the [...]
Leave a Comment