Joplin airport lands carrier; flights to resume in September

By Jeff Wells Springfield Business Journal Staff Commercial air service to the Joplin Regional Airport will resume with the arrival of Great Lakes Airlines. The airport has been without commercial passenger service since Mesa Air Group’s Air Midwest ceased operation on June 30. Cheyenne, Wyo.-based Great Lakes Airlines announced last week that it would begin serving Joplin with daily flights to Kansas City International Airport on Sept. 8. The company said it will begin service to the airport with 14 roundtrips each week from Joplin to Kansas City on a 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D. “The Joplin market has shown strong support for service to Kansas City,” said Great Lakes CEO Charles Howell, in a news release. “We will begin with a two-flight schedule on Sept. 8 with the third flight to be added in late October or early November.... [read full story]