Toledo Express Airport

Toledo Express Airport, officially Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport, is a civil-military airport in Swanton and Monclova townships, west of Toledo in western Lucas County, Ohio, United States. It was dedicated on October 31, 1954, and opened on January 5, 1955, as a replacement for the Toledo Municipal Airport, now Toledo Executive Airport, southeast of Toledo. Toledo Express is near the crossing of State Route 2 and the Ohio Turnpike.
Toledo is used by both passenger and cargo airlines and general aviation. It is also home to the Ohio Air National Guard's 180th Fighter Wing. The airport is a secondary airport for Detroit Metropolitan Airport and the surrounding region, including as a primary diversion point for DTW. The airport is operated by the Toledo–Lucas County Port Authority on a lease agreement from the City of Toledo. The airport also serves as headquarters and the ground cargo hub for BX Solutions.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the airport saw considerable airline service with as many as seven airlines, at any given time, operating over 40 flights per day to fourteen destinations. Traffic peaked in 1997, then began a downfall as many passengers began driving to nearby Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a major hub airport. By 2011, all but two airlines had discontinued service. Traffic bottomed out in 2012, then began a slow growth. In 2015, Toledo Express recorded its third straight year of passenger growth, reaching 179,911.
In 2018, buoyed by growing service to and from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, air travel through Toledo Express Airport increased by more than 22 percent for its sixth straight year of growth. Total passenger service reached 241,299 passengers in 2018.
The airport was officially renamed to honor retired NASA flight director and Toledo native Gene Kranz in September 2020.

History

Efforts to build a modern airport started shortly after World War II, when civic leaders realized that Toledo Municipal Airport was inadequate. A number of locations were proposed and discarded until 1952, when a consortium of six major Toledo companies – Libbey-Owens-Ford, Owens-Illinois, Owens-Corning Fiberglas, Champion Spark Plug, Electric Auto-Lite, and Willys-Overland – acquired the site of Toledo Express Airport west of Toledo and sold the land to the city at cost. The airport was dedicated on October 31, 1954, and was to start its first commercial flight operations on January 5, 1955, which were cancelled due to the weather conditions.
The airport received nearly $3 million from the federal CARES Act during the COVID-19 pandemic. The money went to helping the airport upgrade facilities and continue normal operation during the pandemic's travel downturn.
The airport received another safety grant in 2023, when it received nearly $5 million to enhance its safety and operations.

Historical airline service

The airlines moved to the new airport around the beginning of 1955; the April 1957 Official Airline Guide lists thirteen weekday United Airlines departures, six Trans World Airlines, six Delta Air Lines flights, four Eastern Air Lines flights and four Capital Airlines services. The November 1979 OAG shows jets on seven airlines. Nonstop flights flew from Toledo to:

* Air Florida: Boeing 737-200 – Washington, D.C. National Airport
* Delta Air Lines: Boeing 727-200, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 – Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dayton
* Eastern Air Lines: Boeing 727-200, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 – Columbus and direct to Miami and Tampa
* Frontier Airlines : Boeing 737-200 – Detroit, MI and direct to Denver
* Trans World Airlines : Boeing 727-100, Boeing 727-200 – St. Louis. In 1986 TWA had one flight to Cleveland and onto New York JFK
* United Airlines: Boeing 727-100, Boeing 727-200, Boeing 737-200 – Chicago O'Hare Airport, Cleveland, Denver
* USAir: BAC One-Eleven, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 – Pittsburgh

In 1979, the OAG shows Air Wisconsin and Comair at Toledo as independent commuter airlines, Air Wisconsin flying Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners nonstop to Chicago O'Hare and Detroit while Comair Piper Navajos flew nonstop to Cincinnati. In February 1985, Piedmont Airlines Boeing 727-200s flew to San Francisco via Dayton, Ohio.
On January 8, 1989, American Eagle Airlines, operating for American Airlines, began nonstop service to Chicago O'Hare with four daily flights. By December 1989, American Eagle had five nonstop weekday ATR-42s between Chicago and Toledo, while United Express, operated by Air Wisconsin, had four weekday round trips between Chicago and Toledo, three with Fokker F27s and one with a BAe 146-200.
The OAG shows other airlines at Toledo at the end of 1989 including:

* Continental Express operated by Britt Airways: Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia – nonstop commuter turboprop service to Cleveland, OH Continental Express' last flight, to CLE, was to end on March 1. 2001
* Delta Air Lines: Boeing 727-200, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 – nonstop service to Atlanta, GA and Fort Wayne, IN
* Delta Connection operated by Comair: Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner – nonstop commuter turboprop service to Cincinnati, OH On March 13, 2011, Delta Air Lines' last flight from Toledo, a Delta Connection CRJ flight to MSP, was operated. Northwest Airlines also operated from the airport until its acquisition by Delta.
* Northwest Airlink operated by Mesaba Airlines: Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner – nonstop commuter turboprop service to Detroit, MI
* USAir: Boeing 727-200, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 – nonstop service to Dayton, OH and Pittsburgh, PA
* USAir Express: British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 – nonstop commuter turboprop service to Dayton, OH and Indianapolis, ''IN ''
1997 was the busiest year in Toledo Express' history with 679,841 passenger enplanements. A spike in growth that year was attributed to AirTran Airways offering low cost jet flights to Orlando, Florida.

After 1997, traffic began declining and airlines began suspending all service as a general trend in passenger traffic chose to drive to nearby Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a major hub airport.
On March 14, 2011, Delta Connection discontinued all service, leaving Toledo with only two airlines providing scheduled service: American Eagle with four flights per day to Chicago O'Hare and Allegiant Air with two flights per week to both Orlando and St. Petersburg, Florida. This was an historic low point for Toledo air service, and since then the airport has only seen Allegiant add two flights per week to Punta Gorda Airport in 2013 and American Eagle added two daily flights to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in 2017. American did, however, drop its one daily flight to Chicago.
On March 13, 2012, Charter carrier Direct Air suspended operations from the airport. The charter carrier was subject to Chapter 7 liquidation on April 12, 2012.
On December 5, 2012, Allegiant Air announced new twice-weekly service from Toledo Express and Punta Gorda, FL, replacing previous suspended service by Direct Air.
On December 12, 2012, Sierra West Airlines, a cargo air carrier, signed a 30-year lease to open a new aircraft and crew base at Toledo. The airline announced it would lease a 17,555 sq. ft. hangar formerly used by BD Aeroworks.
On September 6, 2022, American Airlines' Embraer 145 flew out for the last time to Chicago O'Hare, marking the end of legacy airline passenger service at the airport.

Burlington Air Express / BAX Global hub

Toledo Express served as the main North American hub for DB Schenker, which acquired BAX Global, an international air cargo company, from 1993 until September 2011. DB Schenker leased a warehouse facility with direct access to the runways at Toledo Express. They operated approximately 20 flights on average per night from across the United States. Toledo Express was the 22nd busiest cargo hub in North America in 2009 with 241,472 tons handled. The facility is now home to the headquarters of BX Solutions, a ground logistics and shipping company started up by former BAX Global employees with plans to re-establish the former domestic BAX Global ground and eventually air networks.

Passenger air service history

Airline service before 1955 operated from present-day Toledo Executive Airport, formerly known as Toledo Municipal Airport and Toledo Metcalf Airport.

Airline	Destination	Aircraft scheduled	Service date	Comments
Air Florida	New York JFK, Tampa, Washington National	Boeing 737-200, DC-9-10	JFK: 6/14/79-9/5/79, DCA: 10/26/79-9/30/1982, TPA: 02/1980-9/30/1982
AirTran Airways	Atlanta, Dayton, Orlando	Boeing 737-200, DC-9-30, Boeing 717-200	11/14/1996-2/28/1998, 10/3/2000-4/29/2002
Air Wisconsin	Akron-Canton, Chicago O'Hare, Cleveland, Columbus, Flint, Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo, Pittsburgh, South Bend	BAe 146, BAe ATP, Dash 8-300, Dash 7, Metro III	?-02/03/1993	Operating independently and later as United Express.
Allegiant Air*	Las Vegas, Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Phoenix/Mesa	MD-80	LAS:12/15/2005-4/24/2006
America West Express	Columbus, Flint	Beech 1900		Operated by Mesa dba Superior Airlines
American Eagle	Chicago O'Hare, Charlotte	ERJ-145	Service ended September 2021	Operated by Simmons Airlines and Chautauqua Airlines
Atlantic Coast Airlines	Cincinnati	Dornier 328JET		dba Delta Connection
Atlantic Southeast Airlines	Atlanta, Cincinnati	ATR 72, CRJ-200, CRJ-700		dba Delta Connection
Beaver Aviation / BAS Airlines	Beaver Falls, Detroit City, Youngstown	Piper Navajo	Early 1980s
Capital Airlines	Akron, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Muskegon, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia	Viscount, DC-3, DC-4	1/8/1948-05-31-1961	* Merged with United. * At the time, 14 flights at startup was the most ever for a new city.
Chicago Express Airlines	Chicago Midway, South Bend	Jetstream 31, Saab 340	1993–1995, 6/28/2002-1/4/2005	Operating independently and later as ATA Connection
Chicago and Southern Airlines	Detroit, Fort Wayne			Merged with Delta
Comair	Atlanta, Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis	Piper Chieftain, Piper Navajo, EMB-110, Saab 340, EMB-120, Metro III, CRJ-100, CRJ-200, CRJ-700	1979, 01/03/1981-?	Operating independently and later as Delta Connection
Continental Express	Cleveland	EMB-120, Beech 1900, Dash-8-200
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dayton, Detroit, Fort Wayne	Convair 440, Boeing 727-200, Boeing 737-300, MD-88, DC-9-30
Eastern Airlines	Columbus	Constellation L-1049G, Locheed Electra, Boeing 727-100, Boeing 727-200, DC-9-30, DC-9-50
Frontier Airlines	Denver, Detroit	Boeing 737-200, MD-80
Lake Central Airlines	Pittsburgh, Lima, Findlay OH, Columbus, Detroit, Jackson MI, Dayton. Cincinnati	Convair 580, Convair 340, DC-3, Nord 262	1957 through 1968	Merged with Allegheny in 1968
Liberty Airlines	Chicago Midway & O'Hare	Convair 440	02/1982-5/16/1983	Plans for CMH, CLE, STL, BUF, & EWR scrapped. Also flew CAK-ORD
Midway Connection	Chicago Midway	EMB-120, Dornier 228
Mesaba Aviation	Detroit, Youngstown	Dash 8-200, Fokker 27, Metro III, Saab 340		Original and dba Northwest Airlink
Piedmont Airlines	Dayton	Boeing 727-200, Boeing 737-200		Merged with USAir
TransMeridian Airlines	Las Vegas, Sanford/Orlando	Boeing 757-200, Boeing 727-200, MD-80		Filed for Bankruptcy
Trans Midwest Airlines	Columbus, Dayton, Detroit Metro, Lima	Piper Navajo	1983–1985
Trans World Airlines	Detroit, Dayton, Columbus, St. Louis, Cleveland, New York JFK	Martin 404, Boeing 727-100/200, DC-9	1941-1960, 1979-1989
United Airlines	Chicago O'Hare, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Fort Wayne, Newark, Peoria, Saginaw, Washington National, Youngstown	DC-8 series 21, Boeing 727-122, 727-222, Boeing 737-222, Caravelle, Boeing 720, Convair 340, DC-6B
US Airways	Pittsburgh, Lima, Columbus	Convair 580, Boeing 727-200, MD-80, Boeing 737-200/300/400, DC-9-30, BAC One-Eleven, Fokker 100, Fokker 28
US Airways Express	Dayton, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh	Metro III, Jetstream 31, Saab 340, Dash 8-100/200, ERJ 145, Dornier 328		Operated by Trans States Airlines, Jetstream Int'l / PSA Airlines, Allegheny Airlines, Chautauqua Airlines, Shuttle America
Vision Airlines	Myrtle Beach	Boeing 737-400	6/1 – June 29, 2012

* Carrier continues to serve other destinations.