(This story has been updated to include new information and a new photo.)
SOUTH BEND – American Airlines will begin offering bus service Oct. 6 for its passengers between South Bend and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
Passengers will book, pay and even board the bus just as they would a flight. In its announcement Tuesday, July 22, South Bend International Airport described the process:
You’ll book your flight as usual, marking South Bend as your departure point. Check in online up to 24 hours beforehand, just like a flight. Check your bags in at South Bend and clear TSA security (your bags will eventually transfer to your flight). Then wait for and board the 35-seat luxury motorcoach with wi-fi and leather seats.
American’s regional partner, The Landline Company, will provide the bus service four times westbound and four times eastbound on a daily basis, Mike Daigle, CEO and executive director of the South Bend airport, said. He said they will be timed to reach most of the flight connections.
This also adds another direct connection to Chicago. Currently, only United Airlines provides daily flights from South Bend to Chicago, taking passengers to O’Hare.
There hasn’t been bus service between the two airports since the pandemic about five years ago. But airport officials want people to see this as a “flight” that happens to be on a bus that will link travelers to more than 150 destinations that American serves from O’Hare.
Passengers who have flights on other airlines out of O’Hare could conceivably book a separate trip on the bus through American’s online reservation system, Julie Curtis, the South Bend airport’s vice president of marketing and air service development, said. But those passengers would have to then fetch their luggage from baggage claims at O’Hare and check into the other airline’s flight separately.
Also, the buses won’t leave travelers at the usual bus drop-off sites at O’Hare, she said. Rather, they’ll be taken directly to American gates where the planes arrive and depart.
“You have to think of this as a flight,” Curtis said. “It’s the exact same thing. You’re going from gate to gate.”
The service is targeted at “loyal” American Airlines passengers, Daigle emphasized, adding, “This will make it so easy and pleasant.”
There isn’t a set price for the bus, Curtis said. Like a typical flight, customers will see their overall trip cost as they book it.
This marks the third hub that American serves directly from South Bend, according to the airport. Nonstop flights to Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dallas-Fort Worth had begun in June 2018. During the fall football season, American also operates weekend flights from South Bend to New York LaGuardia Airport and to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
American customers can start now to book trips Oct. 6 and afterward using the new bus service. They can earn and use their AAdvantage frequent flier miles on the bus service, South Bend’s press release said.
“We know American Airlines-loyal passengers are driving to O’Hare for flights,” Daigle said in the press release. “These ‘flights’ offer greater flexibility for all travelers allowing the ability to make use of the drive time doing work or streaming on high-speed Wi-Fi while avoiding the headaches of traffic, parking, and long lines in Chicago.”
“American looks forward to welcoming travelers on this innovative service connecting South Bend with our Chicago O’Hare hub,” Jordan Pack, American’s director of domestic network planning, said in the release.
South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or jdits@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: American adds ‘gate to gate’ bus service between South Bend and Chicago O’Hare airports
Reporting by Joseph Dits, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
