DECATUR - A vital but sometimes unnoticed link between Decatur and the rest of the world will soon stop operating.

UPS announced plans Wednesday to discontinue as of Feb. 4 a twice daily flight using a Boeing 757 that had landed in Decatur on a route between Louisville, Ky., and Rockford.

"We're always trying to work to grow the airport and make the airport a vibrant part of the community," said Bill Clevenger, executive director of the Decatur Park District, which operates the airport. "This is a blow to us out there. We sure hope that we would have been able to work with UPS to salvage that operation."

Efforts by local officials to keep the service appear to have fallen short.

UPS blamed the uncertain and declining global economy for the decision. The company is in the process of analyzing its entire delivery system, including consolidating air routes as a means of lowering costs.

The discontinuation is not expected to affect customer service as UPS maintains its ground operation in the area.

"UPS has worked well with the Decatur Airport over the years, and the closing of the gateway is a difficult decision, driven by economics," UPS spokesman Mike Mangeot said. "We want our customers to understand this will be seamless for them."

The company has indicated it plans to offer the 14 affected employees positions elsewhere in its operations, including in Decatur, said Craig Coil, Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County president. Only one person - an aircraft mechanic - is expected to have to relocate elsewhere, Coil said.

Decatur is a hub for UPS operations in Southern Illinois, employing about 300 people and handling about 10,000 pickups and deliveries each day, using four facilities throughout the city. The UPS plane has landed each day shortly after 4 a.m. and again after 10 p.m. with workers having between 30 and 40 minutes to load and unload cargo.

"It's a situation that's not Decatur's fault," Coil said. "But we're feeling the impact of it."

The issue in this case, Coil said, is not so much the jobs but the impact pulling the aircraft will have on both the airport and other area businesses.

"The airport is a huge asset, and it's one we have to continue to be able to maintain and keep current with the aircraft they're flying around the globe today," Coil said. "When UPS decides to pull out the biggest plane that goes in there, it's a detriment to the facility."

Millions of dollars have been invested at the airport in recent years to accommodate UPS.

"This is something that is very difficult for all of us to swallow that have been trying to market that property and market the airport," Coil said. "It's not a good thing for the airport going forward."

A taxiway alongside the airport's main runway was recently built using funds secured as a result of having such a large aircraft using the airport regularly, Clevenger said.

"We might not have been nearly as competitive to secure that taxiway had we not had that aircraft coming in and out every day," Clevenger said. "It's a safety benefit for the airport."

Coil said it could be difficult to replace the service as the cargo delivery industry struggles in the economy. Competitor DHL is discontinuing U.S. operations, and FedEx is even more air-oriented than UPS, Coil said.

"All of them are seeing huge drop-offs in volume, and that's a function of the national economy," Coil said. "We're all paying the price for that as well. We're facing an uphill battle in all reality because all the carriers are downsizing aircraft. They're not bringing the bigger airplanes in because it costs more to run them."

Clevenger said UPS has indicated it could decide to run smaller planes in and out of the airport instead. In the meantime, he said, local officials will work to determine the best use for UPS' facility at the airport.

clusvardi@herald-review.com|421-7972