Phoenix, Miami flights returning to Springfield airport

Seasonal flight paths to Phoenix and Miami are set to return to Springfield-Branson National Airport.

That's according to Dave Schaumburg, director of aviation, who was Springfield Business Journal's People You Need to Know interview guest. He was interviewed yesterday by SBJ interim editor Gregory Holman at The Backlot, Alamo Drafthouse Springfield's restaurant and bar.

Phoenix is set to return in January, he said.

"Phoenix has been a good connection for us, and I think that one will be supported well," Schaumburg said.

Following the interview, airport officials specified that American Airlines confirmed Sept. 11 that it’s bringing back seasonal Saturday-only service from SGF to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport from Jan. 9-Feb. 6.

“We are hopeful that if these January and February (American Airlines Phoenix) flights do well, AA might choose to bring back PHX nonstop service for spring break,” said Ren Luebbering, marketing and communications coordinator for the airport.

Miami could be expanded based on demand, Schaumburg said yesterday.

"We continue to support that as a community, then I think they'll expand it beyond weekly; they'll go to daily," he said.

American Airlines operates both flight paths. It is the largest and longest-serving carrier at SGF, Luebbering said.

Schaumburg said the airport is looking for flight paths to the northeast United States.

"United with Newark would be pretty high up there to get us a northeast connection," he said.

Terminal growth
As the airport set a record last year of 1.55 million passengers, a terminal expansion is being looked at as the airport moves closer to an expected 1.8 million passengers in future years. 

Schaumburg said the airport expects to add on to the north of the terminal building, where gates nine and 10 are located.

"We're super close," he said.

First up will be conceptual discussions.

"We'll be jumping into a dive into what that terminal expansion looks like and probably do some preliminary design and get some good cost estimates on what that looks like, because it will be impactful," Schaumburg said.

The current terminal was built in 2009.