84 Miles: American Airlines Replaces Buses With CRJ-700 Flights To Chicago Today

Published Oct 5, 2026, 4:46 PM EDT Paul has had a career of 25+ years focused on the international technology sector, which has taken him to over 100 countries. Along the way, he developed a deep love for aviation, with a travel bucket list measured by aircraft types flown rather than destinations reached. Now he brings that avgeek passion, along with the journalism experience he accumulated early in his career, to write insightful pieces for Simple Flying. American Airlines has today replaced its unusual ground connection between South Bend Regional Airport (SBN) and Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) with actual flights. From October 5, it will be operating three daily American Eagle services with 65-seat Bombardier CRJ-700s, replacing the 35-seat Landline motorcoaches that made their final trips on Sunday. At just 84 miles (135 km), the route is now the second-shortest scheduled jet link in American's domestic network, just behind the 67 mile (109 km) flight between Chicago and Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE). It also marks a remarkably quick evolution for a connection that only began on October 6, 2025. The carrier launched South Bend alongside Rockford as the first two cities in its Chicago Landline network, extending a model it had already developed extensively around Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). American Is Replacing Its 84-Mile Bus Route With CRJ700 Flights Credit: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock American launched its Landline services at O'Hare in October 2025 with routes to South Bend and Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD). Although traveling entirely by bus, the airline treats these services as 'flights' where passengers still need to check bags and clear TSA screening before boarding, before being driven directly to the secure side of O'Hare. Each bus features 35 leather seats in a 2-1 layout, along with perks like complimentary Wi-Fi and the same earned AAdvantage miles as on a flight. The move to flights reduces American's SBN–ORD frequency from four departures each way to three, but significantly increases capacity. Four 35-seat buses provided 140 seats in each direction daily; three 65-seat CRJ700s provide 195, a 39% increase. The jets are operated by SkyWest Airlines, and feature dual-class cabins, giving South Bend travelers a premium cabin for the first time on the Chicago connection. Previous Landline Service New CRJ700 Service Began October 6, 2025 October 5, 2026 Daily frequencies each way 4 3 Seats per departure 35 65 Daily seats each way 140 195 Cabin Premium motorcoach Dual-class Operator The Landline Company SkyWest Airlines Distance 84 miles (135 km) 84 miles (135 km) South Bend says the reason for the upgrade is straightforward: the route worked. South Bend Regional Airport CEO Mike Daigle said that the SBN-ORD connection has been in high demand, and that passengers will now have one-stop access to more than 350 destinations through the American Airlines network: “It was one-year ago in October that American connected SBN to one of its major hubs, marking a third nonstop route from SBN. We are thrilled the route has performed well and will now be operating with an upgraded regional aircraft, offering convenient options for travelers.” American Still Operates 22 Daily Landline Roundtrips From Five Airports Credit: Landline The disappearance of the South Bend bus does not mean that American is abandoning motorcoaches. Its much larger Philadelphia operation remains, with Landline linking PHL with Allentown, Atlantic City, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Wilmington, and Trenton. With Trenton's addition in September 2025, Landline said those five markets collectively accounted for 22 daily round trips — 44 individual bus journeys — and more than 1,500 seats per day feeding American's Philadelphia hub. Regional Airport Daily Roundtrips Service Began Allentown/Bethlehem (ABE) 6 June 2022 Atlantic City (ACY) 3 June 2022 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AVP) 4 August 2024 Wilmington (ILG) 6 October 2024 Trenton (TTN) 3 September 2025 American Airlines says that more than 200,000 people have used Landline since it began offering the service to airports within 100 miles of its hubs. The airline points out that for many, the core attraction is the convenience of checking in at a regional airport with easy parking, versus driving themselves through traffic to the larger hub and dealing with greater congestion. However, the service is not always a hit, and has confused passengers when the ground segments are incorporated into larger flight itineraries. Earlier this year, passenger Kennedy Woodard went viral after booking SBN–ORD through a corporate travel portal and only realizing at the airport that her American "flight" was a motorcoach. Her TikTok accumulated more than 13.5 million views, while American said its own booking channels clearly identify Landline-operated segments. One Bus Route Became A Flight While Another Disappeared Credit: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock South Bend is particularly interesting when compared with Rockford. American and Landline introduced both as O'Hare feeders in October last year, but less than a year later they have gone in opposite directions: South Bend has graduated to three daily jets, while Rockford's service ended completely on October 4. American's original move into both cities expanded the ground-feeder concept beyond Philadelphia and provided a relatively low-risk way to connect new catchment areas to O'Hare without initially allocating aircraft and crews. South Bend is also far from an uncontested market. United Airlines already operates eight daily flights from O'Hare, compared with American's three, meaning the new service will greatly add to the competitive nature of this hub-feed route. But there is obviously a market to be had, because United just increased its service from six to eight daily flights last year, and American clearly believes it can compete for its share of that feed. The timing also fits American's wider Chicago offensive. It added 29 destinations from O'Hare during 2025, pushed its peak operation beyond 500 daily departures in 2026, and has continued adding domestic and long-haul spokes. South Bend therefore illustrates another potential role for Landline: not simply replacing short regional flights with buses, but testing and building feeder markets cheaply enough that, when demand proves itself, the bus can eventually become an airplane.