American Airlines has replaced its bus link between South Bend, Indiana, and Chicago O'Hare with real flights. From 5 October 2026 the carrier operates three daily American Eagle services on the route with 65-seat Bombardier CRJ700 regional jets, taking over from the 35-seat Landline motorcoaches that made their final runs on Sunday, 4 October. The change was reported by Simple Flying.
The new flights are operated by SkyWest Airlines and use a dual-class cabin, which gives South Bend travellers a premium cabin on the Chicago connection for the first time.
An 84-mile jet route
South Bend Regional Airport (SBN) sits just 84 miles (135 km) from O'Hare. That makes the route the second-shortest scheduled jet link in American's domestic network, behind only the 67-mile (109 km) hop between Chicago and Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
The switch also arrives remarkably quickly. American only began serving South Bend from O'Hare on 6 October 2025, when it launched the city alongside Chicago Rockford International Airport as the first two stops in a Chicago version of its Landline ground network. Less than a year later, the bus has graduated to an aircraft.
Fewer departures, more seats
The move trims American's frequency between South Bend and O'Hare from four departures each way to three, but capacity rises sharply. Four 35-seat buses offered 140 seats in each direction per day; three 65-seat CRJ700s provide 195, an increase of about 39%.
South Bend Regional Airport CEO Mike Daigle said demand drove the upgrade. "It was one-year ago in October that American connected SBN to one of its major hubs, marking a third nonstop route from SBN," he said. "We are thrilled the route has performed well and will now be operating with an upgraded regional aircraft, offering convenient options for travelers." The airport says passengers now have one-stop access to more than 350 destinations across American's network.
How Landline worked
Although the South Bend service travelled entirely by road, American treated it like a flight. Passengers checked bags and cleared TSA screening at the regional airport before boarding, and the coaches drove directly to the secure side of O'Hare. Each bus had 35 leather seats in a 2-1 layout, complimentary Wi-Fi and the same AAdvantage mileage earning as a flight.
The concept was not without friction. Earlier this year a passenger's video went viral after she booked the South Bend–O'Hare segment through a corporate travel portal and only realised at the airport that her American "flight" was a motorcoach. American said its own booking channels clearly identify Landline-operated segments.
Two Chicago feeders, two outcomes
South Bend and Rockford have now gone in opposite directions. While South Bend gains three daily jets, American's Rockford service ended completely on 4 October.
The end of the South Bend bus does not mean American is giving up on ground transport. Its much larger Landline operation at Philadelphia continues, linking the hub with Allentown, Atlantic City, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Wilmington and Trenton. After Trenton was added in September 2025, Landline said those five markets together accounted for 22 daily round trips and more than 1,500 seats per day feeding American's Philadelphia hub. American says more than 200,000 people have used Landline since it began offering the service to airports within 100 miles of its hubs.
A competitive hub-feed market
American is not alone on the route. United Airlines already operates eight daily flights between South Bend and O'Hare, up from six a year earlier, compared with American's three. The new jets therefore add to an already contested market for connecting traffic through Chicago.
The upgrade fits American's wider push at O'Hare. The airline added 29 destinations from Chicago during 2025 and has pushed its peak operation there beyond 500 daily departures in 2026. South Bend shows one way Landline can be used: as a low-cost test of a feeder market that can be turned into an aircraft route once demand is proven.
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