Cedar Rapids to St. Louis: All Jets – All the Time

The love affair Corridor residents have had with travel to and through St. Louis is a long one. It dates back to when TWA was the primary carrier at The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, transporting thousands to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and beyond.

TWA was eventually bought by American Airlines and through the company reorganization; American had to pare down the St. Louis hub. But despite those changes in St. Louis, the Corridor connection with St. Louis has been strong. When other Airports lost St. Louis service, Cedar Rapids maintained service through AmericanConnection and the airline operator Trans States Airlines.

Some of the luster over the St. Louis hub has dimmed, mainly because the flight out of Cedar Rapids was on a Jetstream 41 turbo prop aircraft. That all changes in May when the two daily flights are upgraded to ERJ145, 50-passenger regional jets.

“This is a major investment by the airline to upgrade a turbo prop to a regional jet,” Mann said. “It is incumbent on our community to show AmericanConnection and Trans States that the St. Louis service is important.”

Mann recently met with Trans States President Bill Mishk. Mann said Mishk knows the Corridor market well, having worked for Ozark Airlines eons ago. “He believes this service can thrive and we do, too.”

One selling point for the service is that a passenger can leave Cedar Rapids at 6:51 a.m., and be able to have great connections to points East, Southeast and Southwest. In many cases, you can arrive at major destinations at the same time as an earlier flight departure on another airline.

“You can sleep in a little later,” Mann said. “That’s always a plus.”

American at St. Louis boasts an excellent on-time performance, according to statistics from the Federal Aviation Administrations. Connections through St. Louis are on the same concourse as where you arrive, which makes travel very convenient.

Mann said that if the Corridor shows a strong number of passengers on the new regional jets flights, Mishk has indicated Trans States would be willing to add a third frequency by July.

“We would like to show the strength of the service as soon as possible,” he said. “Book early and often.”

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