PELLSTON — A new carrier has officially started service at the Pellston Regional Airport.
On Thursday, May 8, Pellston Regional Airport welcomed its first United Airlines flight.
The milestone moment comes after the airport announced last September that United Airlines would begin offering flights from Pellston to Chicago.
Airport director Ryan Bachelor said he believes this is the first time the airport will have two airlines operating out of it since the terminal was built. In addition to a daily flight to Chicago via United, Delta Airlines will continue offering flights to Detroit.
“It feels phenomenal and it’s a bit surreal seeing history unfold like this in our small community,” he said. “There’s been a ton of work from a ton of people to get this done.”
Bachelor said hundreds of hours of work from various groups were necessary to bring the new airline in, including operations workers from Skywest Airlines — which owns and operates aircrafts for United and Delta airlines — along with the airport’s own staff learning new regulations. The Air Service Task Force — made up of local businesses, chambers of commerce and visitors bureaus — also helped make the new service possible.
“An entire community coming together to support the airport and to support the area, it’s really uplifting,” he said.
Bachelor added that Jim Kan, who served as the chairman of the Air Service Task Force prior to his death in 2024, “would be jumping for joy right now, knowing that we finally were able to secure another airline for Pellston.”
Currently, there’s one flight a day heading to Chicago, but starting May 22, there will be two flights headed into O’Hare via United, and two flights going to Detroit via Delta Airlines.
In addition to being able to help bring more people to the area, the new flight could make it easier for people who live in the area to travel out west.
“This really adds options for the people in our community and it’s hopefully going to add more business to our community from another market,” Bachelor said.
— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @KarlyGrahamJrn.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Pellston Regional Airport welcomes first United Airlines flight
Reporting by Karly Graham, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
