United Airlines returning to Columbia after four-year absence
Mitchell Kaminski
Editor’s note: Information about the flights was updated after a source error was corrected.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
United Airlines will start flying again out of Columbia in the fall after nearly four years without local flights.
City officials in a Thursday news conference announced the resumption of United service on Sept. 25 at Columbia Regional Airport. The carrier will schedule two flights daily to Chicago O’Hare and once daily to Denver.
Reservations for flights became available at 5 p.m. Thursday on United’s website.. Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said during Thursday’s press conference that Denver was one of the city’s most underserved business markets.
“We’ve heard back from the business community that they have multiple, whether it is a conference or they have another satellite office in the Denver area, but also just that additional going west, an additional opportunity to go west will connect them to even more destinations that help them recruit and retain their business interests here,” Buffaloe told ABC 17 News.
A 2025 community summit report from the city found Denver was the top choice for a new direct flight from Columbia Regional Airport. Denver received 28 of the 89 total votes, leading a list of destinations that included New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Orlando, Houston and Washington, D.C.
New York came in second with 14 votes.
University of Missouri System President Mun Choi also spoke at the news conference, highlighting the 3,000-4,000 MU students who live in the Chicago area. The flights will also expand the university’s reach in Denver, he said.
“We also have a very big market of potential students in the Denver region. So this is another way for us to expand to the reach of Columbia University, Missouri, to those markets,” Choi said during Thursday’s press conference.
City officials said in November that they had received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to resume flight service to Denver. Those flights were halted amid lagging ridership in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Airport Manager Mike Parks said the city and United have been in conversations during the intervening period.
“We had a great relationship with United while they were here. We’ve continued that relationship, continuing to have a conversation with them about the mid-Missouri need for that service to return to Columbia,” Parks said.
United will operate a CRJ-550 for the Chicago flights, according to a City of Columbia release.
American Airlines already offers multiple local flights a day to and from Chicago and Dallas/Ft. Worth.