Frontier Airlines to come to Bloomington Airport

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:18:39 CST

By: Charlie Schlenker

     Sources tell WGLT, Frontier Airlines will announce next week it will begin four weekly flights to Bloomington Normal . Also possibly in the works is service eastward to Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C.
     The McLean County Chamber of Commerce has gathered a war chest of at least $150,000 to help find replacements for the loss of AirTran service in Bloomington-Normal. Several hundred thousand more dollars could come from area governments. Chamber President Charlie Moore says not responding to the market change is not an option.

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     Moore says it's not clear yet what form the incentives will take, but at least the community will be ready to negotiate, though the pace of developments suggest negotiations are already well advanced. He says with more flight cancellations happening every week around the country, the effort to attract new air service is very competitive. The Central Illinois Regional Airport can offer marketing dollars to airlines, but is prohibited from direct cash payments. The Community Air Service Initiative is under no such restriction. Moore says he does not yet know what the going rate is for incentives per passenger or daily flight.
     The Chamber of Commerce says it will continue to fundraise with smaller businesses than those that have already given.
     Bloomington, Normal and McLean County Governments have all scheduled special meetings on Monday to consider memoranda of understanding on the issue. Each would contribute $100,000.