American Eagle ATR-72 arrives on American's inaugural flight to Joplin (2011)American Eagle Embraers await return to Dallas/Fort Worth (2017)
Historical airline service
American Airlines Mid 1940s until 1963. Joplin was one of many stops on a route between Dallas and Chicago.
Ozark Airlines 1950-1986 to Springfield, MO, St. Louis, Chicago, Tulsa, and Dallas/Fort Worth. Ozark began the first jets to Joplin in 1968 with the Douglas DC-9.
Central Airlines 1955-1967 to Kansas City, Fayetteville, and Fort Smith. Central merged into Frontier Airlines in 1967.
Frontier Airlines 1967-1984 to Kansas City, Fayetteville, AR, Fort Smith, Springfield, MO and Little Rock. Direct service to Denver began in 1978 using Boeing 737-200 jets.
Air Midwest (own branding) 1982-1986 and again 1989-1991 to Kansas City, Tulsa, Fayetteville, and Little Rock. Air Midwest also operated a series of major airline Codeshare agreements as noted below.
United Express June 1, 2021 - current to Denver, Chicago-O'Hare, and Houston Intercontinental. The Houston flights were dropped in late 2021.
Joplin had operated under the Essential Air Service program but graduated from the program in the 2010's after passenger traffic greatly increased with the American Eagle regional jet service. Joplin then returned to the EAS program after traffic dropped significantly with the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
On March 10, 2022, the current provider, SkyWest Airlines dba United Express filed to withdraw service to Joplin and 28 other cities served under the EAS program citing a shortage of pilots.[8]
Facilities
The airport covers 970 acres (390 ha) at an elevation of 981 feet (299 m). It has two asphalt runways: 13/31 is 6,501 by 150 feet (1,982 × 46 m) and 18/36 is 6,502 by 100 feet (1,982 × 30 m).[1]
For the year ending December 31, 2022 the airport had 17,868 aircraft operations, an average of 49 per day: 86% general aviation, 13% air taxi, 1% military, and <1% airline. At that time, there were 128 aircraft based at this airport: 105 single-engine, 10 multi-engine, 8 jets, 2 helicopter and 3 ultralights.[1]
The fixed based operator (FBO) at Joplin Regional Airport is Mizzou Aviation, near the General Aviation terminal.
Order 2006-5-11 (May 12, 2006): selecting Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to provide essential air service at Joplin, Missouri, for a two-year period at a subsidy of $849,757 annually.
Order 2008-7-8 (July 3, 2008): selecting Great Lakes Airlines, Ltd. to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Grand Island, Nebraska; Joplin, Missouri; El Dorado/Camden, Harrison, and Hot Springs, Arkansas; at a combined annual subsidy of $9,159,331 ($2,271,640 for Grand Island, $2,311,637 for El Dorado/Camden, $1,587,067 for Harrison, $1,991,307 for Hot Springs, and $997,680 for Joplin), for a two-year period beginning when Great Lakes inaugurates full EAS through the end of the 24th month thereafter.
Order 2010-9-9 (September 8, 2010): selecting Executive Airlines d/b/a American Eagle Airlines to provide essential air service (EAS) at Joplin, Missouri, for an annual subsidy of $2,778,756, for a two-year period beginning when the carrier inaugurates service.
