PEORIA – A year ago, the Greater Peoria Regional Airport got a new name – General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport. And construction began on a new terminal building. Coinciding with these events, the national economy took a tumble, and now a year later, the consequences have caught up with the airport.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines dba Delta Connection, ended nonstop Peoria – Atlanta flights at the end of August, and come January 6, Mesaba Airlines, now also under Delta Air Lines’s umbrella, will reduce Peoria – Minneapolis/St. Paul service by one-third. That will leave the following service at PIA in January 2010:

 - Allegiant Air – Las Vegas (4 roundtrips weekly), Phoenix-Mesa (2 roundtrips weekly) and St. Petersburg/Clearwater (2 roundtrips weekly)

- American Eagle – Chicago-O’Hare (4 daily roundtrips) and Dallas/Fort Worth (2 daily roundtrips)

- Delta Connection – Detroit Metro (2 daily roundtrips) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (2 daily roundtrips)

- United Express – Chicago-O’Hare (4 daily roundtrips) and Denver (1 daily roundtrip)

In January 2010, Peoria Int’l Airport will have just 16-17 daily departures to eight destinations. Passenger totals for 2009 will probably be 15-20% below 2008’s record 564,000 figure. All of this is the result of the “worst downturn since the end of World War Two.”

Not good.

But not hopeless, either.  Peoria has been through this before. The last time, we lost service to both Denver and Detroit, in 2003. Both returned in 2007. Can we expect to see Atlanta service come back? Possibly, if the business travel market returns. And it will, though bad economic policy at both state and federal levels can stunt a full recovery. But when the new terminal goes into operation in either late 2010, or more likely, early 2011, we can celebrate downstate Illinois’ newest airline passenger facility and look forward to years of growth.

- David P. Jordan

PEORIA – According to Delta Air Lines’ online schedules, nonstop service linking Peoria with that airline’s Minneapolis/St. Paul hub will be reduced from three to two daily roundtrips on or about January 1, 2010.

This service is operated by Mesaba Airlines, regional partner to Delta’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Northwest Airlines. Saab 340 turboprops, configured for 34 seats, are used on these flights.

I will provide updates as they become available.

UPDATE (October 16): The Journal Star now reports that the cutback in flights will occur after January 5, 2010. The paper’s assigned “blog reader” probably saw C. J. Summers’ Peoria Chronicle post here.

- David P. Jordan

I did get up early Sunday morning to watch the plane take off down Runway 31 toward the northwest. Unfortunately, the sun hadn’t found Peoria yet so all I managed to get was runway/taxiway lights and the aircraft’s own lights. The aircraft made a fuel stop at Ontario, California before heading to Honolulu, Hawaii, then Pago Pago, American Samoa.

- David P. Jordan

The Journal Star is reporting that passenger business at the Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport continues to decline, though not as fast as it did this winter.

Some good news is that air cargo continues to boom. Through August of this year, United Parcel Service air cargo volume increased 308% compared to the same period in 2008. The reason is that they and DHL/ABX Air dropped Decatur and Bloomington-Normal, respectively, from their air routes in late January/early February, and customers are now using Peoria’s air cargo facilities.

Hopefully, as the economy returns to a boom cycle, Delta Connection will resume its Peoria – Atlanta nonstops, and just in time for the new terminal dedication planned for November 2010.

- David P. Jordan

 I took advantage of Sunday’s afternoon’s sunny skies to get some pics of the  Experimental Aircraft Association’s “Eastern Air Transport” Ford Tri-Motor, NC8407, which arrived Friday.

Interestingly, the plane came off the assembly line in 1929, three years before the presently-named Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria Int’l Airport existed!

Seeing this aircraft flying above Peoria’s skies this weekend made me long for the days before sleek jets, and even those piston-engine American Airlines Convair 240s, Ozark Air Lines DC-3s and Trans World Airlines Martin 404s that were regular visitors to the then-Greater Peoria Airport during the 1950s.

- David P. Jordan

The decline in business travelers due to the bad economy is cited as the primary reason for the loss of Atlanta flights. While load factors have been relatively high (75% according to the article linked above), yields are inadequate. To get those numbers, fares must be kept low. Apparently too low.

There’s more to the story, however. The same carrier that offered Peoria – Atlanta flights is battling low-fare AirTran Airways at Bloomington. Atlantic Southeast Airlines dba Delta Connection offers five daily nonstops while competitor AirTran offers three. Yields are unlikely to be better at Bloomington, but Delta thinks it has to serve Bloomington-Normal to compete.

Hopefully, a better economy in 2010 and an increase in local business travel will prompt Delta to resume Peoria – Atlanta flights. Meanwhile, regional affiliates of Northwest Airlines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, serves Peoria from Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul. The airlines are in the process of merging operations, so Delta at least maintains a local presence.

- David P. Jordan

PEORIA – Allegiant Air offers Peoria air travelers nonstop service top Las Vegas, Phoenix-Mesa and St.Petersburg/Clearwater. Current schedules show Las Vegas flights being offered daily except Tuesday and Friday. Service to Phoenix-Mesa is shown as being offered on Monday and Friday. St. Petersburg/Clearwater flights are also offered twice weekly, on  Tuesday and Saturday. And unlike 2008, flights to Phoenix-Mesa and St. Petersburg/Clearwater are not being suspended for the summer.

Days of operation for the Las Vegas flights will change shortly, however, according to Allegiant Air’s online schedules. Saturday service to Las Vegas last operates tomorrow, but Wednesday flights will be operated on the 12th and 19th of this month. Some changes to days of operation are noted for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays as well.

- David P. Jordan

So how’d I know about Delta’s plans more than ONE MONTH before the local newspaper? Easy. I read the civil aviation forum at www.airliners.net. The original forum post from June 28 is here. I confirmed what the poster had written by checking Delta’s flight schedules at www.delta.com.

I won’t comment on the details of the article. It’s always the same. Airport officials rationalize it by saying it’s happening elsewhere. And the service could return. Blah Blah Blah. Hopefully in the not-too-distant-future, Delta will realize that profit is more important than pride and will reduce or drop its low-yield five daily Bloomington- Altanta roundtrips, which compete with AirTran Airways’ three dailies, and resume its higher-yield Peoria – Atlanta flights.

Until then, Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport will be a bit quieter.

- David P. Jordan

   This view is from the west side of the new terminal site looking east-southeast. Most of the beams that have been erected are for the concourse at right. The existing terminal and control tower can be seen at left.

   This view shows the terminal from the observation deck at the existing terminal building looking west. Most of the structure shown is that of the concourse, where airside gates and aircraft parking will be located.

- David P. Jordan

PEORIA – Atlantic Southeast Airlines dba Delta Connection will drop its nonstop service between Peoria and Atlanta on September 1. The airline’s online schedules show two daily roundtrips through July, then one through August. Delta Connection had reduced Peoria service to just one daily roundtrip last fall, leading to speculation that service would soon end altogether, but then restored a second daily flight in March.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines began its Peoria – Atlanta route on August 1, 2001 with great success, even after the terror attacks of September 11 that year, but the airline’s duplicative service at Central Illinois Regional Airport in nearby Bloomington-Normal has siphoned business from its Peoria flights. Delta Connection entered the CIRA market on December 1, 2005 to compete directly with low-cost carrier (LCC) AirTran Airways. Thus, the competition between the two carriers has resulted in lower fares, more frequent flights and larger aircraft at CIRA.

Technically, Delta Air Lines is not ending its presence here since Northwest Airlines, whose regional affiliates link Peoria with Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Atlanta-based airline. A full merger of the two carriers is expected to take place later this year, with Delta’s name surviving.

Sad as it is, the end of Atlanta nonstops may offer more opportunities for Allegiant Air, i. e., restoring nonstops to Orlando-Sanford and Fort Lauderdale, and perhaps adding Fort Myers. And American Eagle could be persuaded to add a third nonstop to its Dallas/Fort Worth hub. Another possibility, albeit less likely, is that Peoria airport officials may try to convince US Airways to enter the local market with twice-daily nonstops to the airline’s Charlotte, North Carolina hub.

UPDATE: The discontinuance of Delta Connection’s Peoria – Atlanta nonstops could be “seasonal.” The airline’s single daily Atlanta – Lincoln (NE) nonstops will be discontinued at the same time but according to Lincoln’s Journal Star, the flights may be seasonal and could return in summer 2010.

- David P. Jordan