SAVOY, Ill. (WAND) – A central Illinois airport’s connection with United Airlines is about to end.
The News-Gazette reports United Airlines will no longer serve Willard Airport after a final date of Sept. 4, 2018. The airline first started offering flights from the University of Illinois-owned hub in June of 2017.
Willard Executive Director Gene Cossey told the newspaper the cancellation, which he says came “out of the blue” in recent days, is because of a pilot shortage. Airlines have seen issues in finding pilots after national lawmakers ruled they need 1,500 hours of training. There is also a mandatory retirement age of 65.
United spokeswoman Rachael Rivas told the paper Willard and two other airports will lose United service. She says the airline is making changes to “maximize our domestic network and best serve our customers”. She says schedule changes will “allow us to continue our focus on providing customers the flights and connection opportunities they value most”.
United offered three flights a day to Chicago O’Hare, while American Airlines added more flights from Willard to O’Hare and Dallas-Fort Worth. The News-Gazette says the service from both airlines raised passenger numbers by 12 percent.
Cossey says the change is “extremely disappointing” and a “big setback” to improvements Willard had built in recent years.
United says flights will still be open for booking through Sept. 4. It plans to find different flights or offer refunds for flights people have already paid for after that date. United has about a dozen people who work at Willard, who Cossey says United will have relocate.
Mobile, Ala., and Manchester, N.H., are the other regional locations losing United service.
