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Jet service to St. Louis coming to Springfield

Posted August 29, 2007 11:00 pm

Tim Landis

Jet service to St. Louis. No subsidies.

It has been an elusive combination for Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in the past year and a half, as airport officials have struggled to shore up the traditional commuter route between Springfield and St. Louis.

Beginning Nov. 4, the airport gets both with the start of two AmericanConnection flights daily on 50-passenger regional jets.

"This is great news for us," airport executive director Mark Hanna said Thursday. "It's jet service all the way around to all of our destinations. It's what people have been asking for,"

United Express to Chicago and Washington, D.C., and Allegiant Air to Las Vegas also fly regional jets.

American Airlines' announcement Thursday came after a bumpy stretch that saw two commuter airlines - RegionsAir, which flew to St. Louis, and Big Sky, which went to Midway Airport in Chicago - pulled out of Springfield despite local financial incentives.

Hanna said American Airlines sought no incentives, although setting up the flights took several months of negotiations.

"There's always been a strong market for St. Louis, going back to Trans World Airlines and then American. American gave us a hard look again and found some capacity in their flying patterns," said Hanna.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, also played an important role in convincing American to start the flights.

American spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said fares will not be set until the flights are loaded into the airline's ticket system on Sunday, but that the company's frequent-flier programs would apply.

"This is actually one of those routes we've been targeting for a while, and now we had the opportunity to serve it," said Huguely.

American's new commuter partner, St. Louis-based Trans State Airlines, operated the AmericanConnection route before RegionsAir, but dropped the service in June 2006 in favor of an all-jet fleet. RegionsAir flew 19-passenger turboprops.

Springfield resident Dave Ryan said he would take a look at the new St. Louis flights, but still must be sold on cost, reliability and convenience.

"I've flown to St. Louis, and I've driven to St. Louis. If everything goes perfect out of St. Louis, I can be home maybe 20 minutes faster than if I drive. It's always been kind of a wash," said Ryan, who is director of human resources at Mel-O-Cream Donuts International.

Still, Ryan said he was glad to have the flying option again.

"I enjoy doing that, there's just always other considerations over the years," he said.

Springfield airport officials also had been in discussions with Great Lakes Airlines for St. Louis service, but the carrier had difficulty finding enough aircraft to serve the Springfield, Marion, Decatur and Quincy markets formerly served by RegionsAir.

Hanna said he would not rule out service from Great Lakes, but that the priority was to get St. Louis flights back as soon as possible.

Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536 or tim.landis@sj-r.com.

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