Meridian and Hattiesburg airports to gain flights to Chicago

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - SkyWest Airlines, a regional carrier for American Airlines, will begin offering a single daily round trip to Chicago O’Hare International Airport from Meridian Regional Airport and Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport.

Both airports now have two round trips each day to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. One of those round trips will be dropped at each airport with the addition of Chicago flights.

Hattiesburg-Laurel airport Director Tom Heanue told the Hattiesburg American (https://hatne.ws/2neOEbA) that a second destination will help travelers reach the Midwest and East Coast more easily. All flights will be on 50-seat regional jets.

SkyWest is taking over for current regional carrier ExpressJet Airlines. Heanue said ExpressJet is struggling with an industry-wide shortage of planes and pilots.

Flights to both airports are subsidized by the federal government’s Essential Air Service program.

A flight to each destination will be offered on Saturdays and Sundays. Now, only one flight is available on weekends.

“We will gain weekday flights to and from Chicago and an additional flight on Saturdays and Sundays, which should benefit business travelers who leave on Sundays and had to fly out early in the morning.” Meridian Airport Authority President Tom Williams told The Meridian Star (https://bit.ly/2neTm9k). “The addition of a flight later that afternoon to Chicago will give them more flexibility.”

Williams had earlier said Meridian wanted to add service to American’s hub in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The airports saw traffic plummet after a Delta Air Lines regional carrier pulled out in 2012. The replacement carrier, Silver Airways, struggled to provide reliable service and attract passengers. Traffic has rebounded since the American affiliate arrived in 2015, exceeding 16,000 at both Hattiesburg-Laurel and Meridian.

“Good, reliable service made a difference,” Williams said. “We thought we’d never come back.”

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Information from: The Hattiesburg American, https://www.hattiesburgamerican.com