On Sun Country, your connection could end up being on a bus
Are airline passengers willing to consider buses for a seamless one-stop itinerary from smaller markets?
That's what one start-up company is betting on. A company called Landline wants to connect travelers from small communities around the country to flights at hub airports.
Touting itself as a "regional mobility company" operating "premium motor coaches" — in other words, a bus operator — Landline will launch its first airline partnership with Sun Country Airlines in November. The firm's buses will connect the leisure carrier's Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) hub with the Duluth (DLH) and Mankato (MKT) airports in Minnesota.
Landline plans to operate the routes as a regional airline would, a Sun Country Express so-to-speak, just with buses instead of planes, the company's CEO David Sunde explained to Skift last month.
"With consolidation and the pilot shortage and the lack of really any aircraft development in the sub-60-seat sector, there is not a proper way to source this mission if you are in an airline," he said.
Sun Country will sell tickets for the segments operated by Landline on its website, allowing customers to book an itinerary just as if they were booking one with a connecting flight. Passengers will check in and drop off bags at the Duluth or Mankato airports and then transfer between buses and flights at Minneapolis/St. Paul much as they would if they were flying, except that they will have to clear security at MSP.
"We are excited to partner with Landline to make our low fares and comfortable onboard experience available to more Minnesotans," Jude Bricker, CEO of Sun Country, said in a statement.
The trip from Duluth to Sun Country's home in Terminal 2 at Minneapolis/St. Paul airport is 162 miles, and from Mankato is 73 miles, according to Google Maps. Landline schedules the former at up to three hours and 20 minutes, and the latter at up to two hours.
Delta Air Lines flies between Duluth and Minneapolis with flights blocked at roughly one hour and 10 minutes, according to Diio by Cirium schedules.
No carrier has flown between Mankato and Minneapolis since 2004, Diio data shows. According to the Airline Maps blog, former Republic Airlines served the route in 1979 but had dropped the service by 1983. Republic merged with Northwest Airlines in 1986, and Northwest with Delta in 2008.
Bus-airline connections on regional routes are not a new idea. United Airlines offers a bus between its Newark (EWR) hub and Allentown, Pennsylvania, a trip of about 80 miles. AirTran Airways, America West Airlines and Frontier Airlines also have all previously contracted with bus operators to connect their hubs to nearby small communities.
The question remains whether people will take to Landline's new services. Buses, while an economic way to connect a hub airport with smaller communities, are subject to traffic and other conditions that a flight may be able to avoid.
Airlines have by-and-large gotten out of the bus business. As Skift pointed out, Continental Airlines exited many of its connecting bus routes in the late 1990s with a spokesperson telling The New York Times that the carrier did "not want to be in the bus business."
"It's been tried before," J.P. Morgan analyst Jamie Baker said recently of the bus-airline connection concept, according to Air Transport World. "It didn't work."
What does work are bus operators that serve airports — independent of airlines. For example, there is a robust network of bus routes connecting Boston Logan (BOS) to points in New England, including Cape Cod, New Hampshire and Maine.
Vote for TPG UK's four-class British Airways review in this year's Lovie Awards!
TPG featured card
at American Express's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 3X | Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases. |
| 1X | Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases. |
Pros
- Delta SkyClub access when flying Delta
- Annual companion ticket for travel on Delta (upon renewal)
- Ability to earn MQDs through spending
- Various statement credits for eligible purchases
Cons
- Steep annual fee of $650
- Other Delta cobranded cards offer superior earning categories
- Earn 100,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $6,000 or more in purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership and an additional 25,000 bonus miles after you make an additional $3,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months, starting from the date that your account is opened. Offer Ends 04/01/2026.
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card Members receive 15 Visits per Medallion® Year to the Delta Sky Club® when flying Delta and can unlock an unlimited number of Visits after spending $75,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. Plus, you’ll receive four One-Time Guest Passes each Medallion Year so you can share the experience with family and friends when traveling Delta together.
- Enjoy complimentary access to The Centurion® Lounge in the U.S. and select international locations (as set forth on the Centurion Lounge Website), Sidecar by The Centurion® Lounge in the U.S. (see the Centurion Lounge Website for more information on Sidecar by The Centurion® Lounge availability), and Escape Lounges when flying on a Delta flight booked with the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card. § To access Sidecar by The Centurion® Lounge, Card Members must arrive within 90 minutes of their departing flight (including layovers). To access The Centurion® Lounge, Card Members must arrive within 3 hours of their departing flight. Effective July 8, 2026, during a layover, Card Members must arrive within 5 hours of the connecting flight.
- Receive $2,500 Medallion® Qualification Dollars with MQD Headstart each Medallion Qualification Year and earn $1 MQD for each $10 in purchases on your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card with MQD Boost to get closer to Status next Medallion Year.
- Enjoy a Companion Certificate on a Delta First, Delta Comfort, or Delta Main round-trip flight to select destinations each year after renewal of your Card. The Companion Certificate requires payment of government-imposed taxes and fees of between $22 and $250 (for itineraries with up to four flight segments). Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. Delta Basic experiences are not eligible for this benefit.
- $240 Resy Credit: When you use your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card for eligible purchases with U.S. Resy restaurants, you can earn up to $20 each month in statement credits. Enrollment required.
- $120 Rideshare Credit: Earn up to $10 back in statement credits each month after you use your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card to pay for U.S. rideshare purchases with select providers. Enrollment required.
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
- With your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, receive upgrade priority over others with the same Medallion tier, product and fare experience purchased, and Million Miler milestone when you fly with Delta.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees. Enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad.
- $650 Annual Fee.
- Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees