United Airlines to Postpone the Return of Service at CIRA

[Bloomington, IL] – The Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) was preparing for the return of United Airlines to our community. United was scheduled to begin service with multiple daily flights between BMI and O’Hare International Airport (ORD) on October 25, 2026, after delays from the intended start date of May 2026.

The reason behind the United’s decision to postpone the start of service at BMI is because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) extended its cap on scheduled flights operating from ORD through October of 2027. The FAA first imposed capacity limits at ORD in May of 2026 in order to relieve peak summer travel congestion.

CIRA is not the only airport affected by this postponed launch by United. There are nine other markets that were impacted in the same manner.

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“Our community was looking forward to having United Airlines back at CIRA. We certainly appreciate the partnership between BMI and United and we will be prepared to successfully launch the new service when the opportunity presents itself,” said Carl Olson, Executive Director of CIRA.

The Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal (CIRA) has free parking, easy access, and a convenient location off Rt. 9 East in Bloomington, CIRA provides air service to and from the world into central Illinois. For more information about CIRA, visit www.cira.com or find us on Facebook (FlyCIRA), Instagram (flycira), and Twitter @FlyCira.