THE FLIGHT THAT RETURNED TO THE AIR

In October 2024, American Airlines introduced a new connection between South Bend, Indiana, and Chicago O'Hare. Passengers could book through American, check their luggage at South Bend International Airport and connect to flights across the airline's network. The unusual part was that the journey to Chicago wasn't on an airplane. It was on a bus.

The service was operated by Landline, a company that has found a place for motorcoaches within airline networks. Its buses carry flight numbers, passengers receive boarding passes, and luggage is transferred between services. For South Bend, just 84 miles from O'Hare as the crow flies, it offered a connection to a major hub without the need for a short regional flight.

Two years later, American brought the airplane back. In October 2026, the motorcoach was replaced by a CRJ-700 regional jet, restoring scheduled flights between South Bend and Chicago. The bus connection to nearby Rockford, introduced as part of the same arrangement, was discontinued altogether.

Elsewhere, the model continues. Around Philadelphia, American still operates a network of Landline connections, bringing passengers from smaller regional airports into its hub by road. Around Chicago, however, the contrast is striking. Sound Bend was upgraded to an airplane, while Rockford was left with neither the plane nor the bus.