It has been nearly eight months since RegionsAir abruptly stopped flying at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, leaving Springfield airline passengers without a way to get to and from St. Louis for the first time in decades.
Today, AmericanConnection brings that service back. Just two flights daily to begin with, but service nonetheless.
"It's been a real large headache for us," said airport board chairman Frank Valla.
An official takeoff ceremony with Trans States Airlines and AmericanConnection representatives, as well as U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, is planned at the airport today.
Numbers tell just how large the headache has been. The 44,205 passengers who boarded flights from January through September were down more than 17 percent from 2006. But there was a glimpse of a turnaround in September, with 5,567 boardings, up 12 percent from September 2006.
St. Louis-based Trans States Airlines had the AmericanConnection commuter partnership with American Airlines before RegionsAir shut down as a result of pilot-training issues with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Other than the mere fact service is back, the "new" AmericanConnection has several advantages RegionsAir did not. Trans States Airlines will use 50-passenger jets. RegionsAir had 19-seat turboprops.
Trans States is an established, financially sound carrier. RegionsAir struggled even before the shutdown and has yet to make a comeback.
Trans States Airlines has asked for no subsidies. RegionsAir failed to make it to a year, despite subsidies.
Local travel agents have described the early response to restored St. Louis service as interested, but cautious, after such a long stretch with no service. Fares, they said, are competitive with United Express to Chicago.
A number of limo and bus services also have jumped in to fill the demand for transportation to Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.
Proximity to St. Louis has always proved a challenge for the local airport. Even when the old Trans World Airlines thrived in Springfield and St. Louis, many local passengers preferred to jump in their cars and take the drive down Interstate 55.
Since then, said Valla, the airport has switched to free parking, completely overhauled the terminal, established a customer-service center and taken a variety of other steps that make it easier to get out of Springfield.
Of course, the airports in Bloomington and Peoria have gotten pretty aggressive too, including marketing campaigns targeted directly to Springfield travelers. But Valla said he likes the airport's chances now with AmericanConnection to St. Louis, United Express to Chicago and Washington, D.C., and Allegiant Air to Las Vegas.
"We're just happy to have them (AmericanConnection) back," he said.
The Springfield-to-St. Louis flights depart at 7 a.m. with arrival 7:40 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. with arrival at 3 p.m. St. Louis-to-Springfield flights depart at 1:15 p.m. with a 1:55 p.m. arrival and 8 p.m. with an 8:40 p.m. arrival.
