The Lincoln Airport is finally getting its long-desired flight to Texas.
The Airport Authority on Thursday approved a contract with United Airlines, which plans to start new daily service to Houston around Sept. 1.
Airport Executive Director David Haring said United still has to sign off on the deal, something he expects to happen next week.
Haring said details are still being worked out, but the once-a-day flights, which will be on 50-seat regional jets, will likely depart Lincoln early in the morning, around 6:30 a.m., and return around 8:30 p.m.
"That's an ideal schedule for us as a business market," Haring said.
Houston George Bush International Airport is a United Airlines hub with connections to U.S. and international destinations, including numerous locations in Mexico, central and south America and the Caribbean.
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Airport Authority Chairman Zachary Mora James called the new service "a shot in the arm" for the airport, which lost Delta Air Lines earlier this year and is in the midst of a $55 million terminal renovation and expansion project.
"This is a huge deal for us," Mora James said. Before Delta pulled out of the market, it was providing service to Minneapolis and Atlanta.
Airport officials have been trying for several years to entice an airline to start service to the Lone Star State.Â
In 2018, the airport received a $750,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration aimed at getting American Airlines to start service to Dallas.
But the airline never showed much interest, and last year, the airport convinced the FAA to amend the grant to allow Lincoln to pursue flights to any hub airport in Texas.
That opened the door for United, which already serves the Lincoln Airport with flights to Chicago and Denver, to consider starting Houston service.
Haring said United will utilize the grant, which provides a revenue guarantee to make up any losses it incurs in starting up the flight and includes $250,000 each in local match funds from the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The airport also will provide other perks, such as free marketing and waiving gate and landing fees for the first year of the service.
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United did not, however, seek any of the $3 million in stimulus funds the city and county have earmarked to help the airport attract air service.
Another factor that Haring said played a big role in United agreeing to start the service is the location of a CommutAir maintenance base at the airport.
CommutAir, which is a regional airline that flies for United, opened the four-bay maintenance hangar last year to service the company's 50-seat regional jets.
"I don't believe (the Houston flight) would be possible without that maintenance base being here," Haring said.
In addition to Denver, Houston is one of CommutAir's operation centers.
Charlie Denton, the airline's Lincoln base manager, said in a statement that Lincoln "has quickly become a strategic link in support of our growing route network."
Haring said the announcement of the Houston flight is the first tangible evidence the airport has been able to show the public that it is recovering from the pandemic.
Though passenger traffic at the airport remains about 50% below where it was in 2019, it continues to grow from the depths of the downturn in 2020 and early 2021. Through April, the airport had seen more than 47,000 passengers, which was double the number it had in the first four months of last year.
Haring said the airport continues to work to bring more air service to Lincoln, potentially utilizing the $3 million in stimulus funds the city and county have earmarked for that purpose.
"I'm hopeful that this service is the first of several opportunities to come to fruition in the near future," he said.
Jason Ball, president and CEO of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, praised airport officials for landing the Houston flight, saying it is "going to be nothing but good for the Lincoln Airport."
Ball said the flight also will be a good thing for the city as a whole, giving travelers a new destination and also making it easier for visitors to come to the city.
"We know this is going to be important for Lincoln's economy," he said.