Delta Air Lines will resume flights between Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington and Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Feb. 6, which is earlier than expected. The flights will operate six days per week on 50-seat regional jets.
“Detroit is an important market for the continued growth at Rivian and an equally important connection to the east coast and Europe for our business and leisure travelers,” said Alan Sender, chairman of the Bloomington Normal Airport Authority.
Delta suspended its service in November for the first quarter of the year. CIRA officials said at the time they would work to publicize other ways to get to Detroit, such as a one-stop through Chicago on American. Delta also ended Detroit-to- Bloomington service during the early part of the pandemic, but restored it in October of 2020.
“Collaborating with our partners at Rivian, we were able to clearly identify the ongoing need for the Detroit service to Delta. Rivian’s December announcement it will build its next manufacturing facility near Atlanta, Ga., the location of Delta’s primary hub airport, highlighted the synergies between the three markets of Atlanta, Detroit and Bloomington-Normal,” said Sender. “
The airport in Bloomington continues to offer Delta service to its major hub in Atlanta, first begun in 2005.
Passenger traffic plummeted when the pandemic began and has not returned in full, partly because remote meeting technology has reduced the need for some business travel.
“The airline continues to bolster its network and add capacity in line with the return of demand,” CIRA said in a release.
