American Airlines goes bigger with Evansville service to Chicago
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A few months after the return of nonstop flights from Evansville Regional Airport to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, American Airlines is improving its service along the route.
The airline announced this week it will operate larger planes to and from Evansville, meaning there will be more seats available for those traveling to Chicago as well as a number of first class seats.
According to a company release, American will operate Embraer 170 aircraft for all Evansville-Chicago flights beginning June 5. Those aircraft feature 65 seats, 12 of which are first class.
“American looks forward to adding dual-class service between Evansville and our Chicago O’Hare hub,” said Jordan Pack, American’s director of domestic network planning. “We are pleased to offer travelers more ways to customize their experience as they travel with American to ORD and beyond.”
Over the course of a full year, American says the larger E170 aircraft will add an additional 22,000 roundtrip seats. American is currently running CRJ 200 aircraft that have 50 seats on board.
The return of the Chicago flights helped Evansville Regional Airport reach a 15% increase in year-over-year passenger traffic in 2024, according to the release. That includes a 30% uptick in travel in December of 2024, compared to December 2023.
The airport is also in the midst of construction on a $7.5 million private terminal building, which will be operated by Tri-State Aero, a subsidiary of United Companies. Work is slated for completion this summer.