United Airlines has temporarily suspended non-stop flights between Chicago and Erie.
The twice-a-day round trips will resume Feb. 20, according to Derek Martin, Executive Director of the Erie International Airport.
Martin said air travel is down almost 70% nationwide from a year ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "People have nowhere to go," he said in an interview Sunday.
But United added direct flights from Erie to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. in mid-December. The Erie Airport Authority was able to add that service when they received a $292,000 Small Community Air Service grant, which enables the federal government to assist small airports in obtaining new air service, will defer United's operational costs for the first year of service, Martin said at the time.
United contracts with Air Wisconsin which operates as United Express for the Erie flights to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The flights began in June 2014.
Martin didn't know when the flight suspension took effect.
"I don't pay attention to it because airlines change their flights all the time," he said.
In July, also due to pandemic-related travel changes, Delta Airlines also suspended their daily direct flights to Detroit from Erie. A return of those flights have not been announced.
American Airlines currently flies two round trips from Erie to the Charlotte International Airport in North Carolina.
Find details on daily flights on the Erie International Airport's live flight monitor on their website, www.erieairport.org.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: United Airlines temporarily suspends direct flights from Erie to Chicago's O'Hare airport
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