United Ending Flights

By Michelle Koetters

BLOOMINGTON – The number of flights from the Twin Cities to Chicago will be halved this fall.

United Express will no longer fly out of the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington after Nov. 2, said Carl Olson, airport executive director.

The loss of service is part of United Airlines’ plan to cut 17 percent of its domestic flights this year, Olson said Thursday. Airlines across the country are in a crisis situation because of the high cost of fuel.

“This is an industry issue. This service is part of the casualty this industry is facing,” Olson said.

American Airlines’ American Eagle regional carrier still will provide Bloomington-Normal travelers with daily flights to the Windy City.

Business travelers will be most affected by the news because they fly the Chicago routes more than leisure travelers, said Sue May, owner of Clinton Travel Agency in Clinton. But even with travelers’ options for flights to Chicago cut in half, May believes American will be able to accommodate fliers.

“I don’t think it’s going to be much of an impact,” she said. “We’ll weather the storm.”

Under its reorganization plan, United will take 100 larger aircrafts – such as Boeing 737s – out of service and replace them with smaller regional jets in some major metropolitan areas where they plan to maintain service. They’ll get those smaller, 50- passenger planes from routes serving regional airports like Bloomington’s, Olson said.

The announcement came as a bit of surprise to Bloomington airport officials because the airline has been doing well in the Twin Cities, consistently carrying a load at 75 percent capacity, Olson said. But he also understands why airlines are simply trying to survive these days.

“Oil is at $146 a barrel today,” Olson said.

The cost of a barrel of oil has doubled since a year ago. The industry uses 18 billion gallons of jet fuel each year, and a penny increase in the price of a gallon of fuel means an added $180 million in expenses for the airlines, Olson said.

By this fall, more than 7 percent of the industry’s total flights will be eliminated – the most ever, Olson said.

United has three flights a day to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and serves 16 percent of the market in Bloomington-Normal, Olson said.

In addition to American Eagle, other airlines that also serve the Twin Cities are: AirTran, which flies to Orlando Fla., and Atlanta, Ga.; Delta Connection, which flies to Atlanta; and Northwest Airlink, which flies to Detroit.

“It is a disappointment to lose United, but we will move forward,” Olson said.

None of the airport’s other airlines has indicated they have any plans for additional cuts in Bloomington service. However, in today’s rapidly changing economic environment, no one can definitively say more reductions will not happen, Olson said.

Travelers also still have the option to fly United out of Peoria, May said.

(c) 2008 Pantagraph. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.