Small, simple airport. TSA security checkpoint is a breeze to get through. Only one regional jet service (Contour) to/from Chicago ORD. Very clean, tidy, and ample FREE PARKING. Onsite car rentals from Enterprise/National. No lounge, no onsite restaurant, very limited seating, but the pre-security waiting area is very lounge-like with premium furnishings. With only 2 daily arrival/departures between MBL/ORD, it is quite limiting, but if Chicago is your destination, this is a viable option. Contour doesn't have stellar on time performance so if you're connecting through ORD after arriving, I advise taking the early flight and giving yourself a lot of time for the layover. Not the airport's fault but be aware. read more

I love flying out of Manistee County Blacker Airport! It is a small airport, which comes with some risks, like possible delays, but the staff is awesome, and I always get there! Another perk is plenty of room on the plane and an amazing view. A small airport makes travel easy, no lines, free parking and just convenient. I can get to Chicago easily and connect to anywhere I want to go. I love MBL! read more

Manistee County Blacker Airport - Airports Near Me - Manistee, Michigan

See all

Everyone here is nice and does their absolute best. When it works, it works reasonably well. However, in my experience over the last 15 years, with various carriers, it often doesn't work. Given the size of the operation, when things go wrong, you'll easily lose 1/2 a day to 2 days waiting for things to be fixed. Give yourself a 2 day buffer on both ends of your trip. Forget connecting to another flight, you'll almost always miss it. I've taken flights in/out of here dozens of times over the years, and an on time flight is rare. They also have no priority at O'Hare, so if there isn't a gate available, you end up waiting 90 minutes or so while they figure it out. It's cute, it's small, it's occasionally effective, but don't count on it to get you where you need to go. read more

After an unfortunate mix-up, my bag containing my car keys was left in Chicago. When I realized my mistake in Manistee, Ron Mallison helped me arrange transportation back to Traverse City and even drove me halfway there. He's an incredible person with excellent customer service. read more

Hold your horses everyone. Yes, when reliable Blacker Air is five star, but reliability goes out the window, and you can be out some very serious cash. So just sit back and hear my tale. I purchased a ticket from Manistee to Midway, because Delta had a flight from where I was going, it was departing Midway at 10:30 am and Blacker arrived there at 08:30, or at least that is what my reservation said. On November 4th I received an email from Ms. Amy Kirkpatrick stating that Blacker will now be flying in at 12:30, yes, I had 16 days to alter my plans, very good Amy, you're a hero. Alas, there are problems when dealing with other airlines, basically they don't give a darn about you, meaning refunds don't really exist. So, my $261.00 ticket, the refund is $91.00. Again Amy Kirkpatrick, you're a hero ( actually not, you represent these hero's). However, what brought Blacker to this abysmal one star rating is. Now I had to purchase a ticketing of Traverse city for $325.00 + the original $130.00 I am out, this puts me at a target loss of $455.00, and Amy Kirkpatrick has the temerity of sending me an email QUOTE: "The only thing I can offer is to move you to the day before if that works. Unfortunately, your connecting flight information was not entered during the booking process as requested to we were not aware of the connection" Suddenly it's my fault, so if you were aware, this decision to change the flight schedule would be put on hold? Yeah, I'm sure it would. Frankly it wouldn't matter if I posted it or not, their liability now further absolves itself, when it's someone else's fault. Thanks Amy, you're a hero. And, the day before, hotel rooms in Chicago are expensive Amy, but you're not going to pay for that, no. My only hope is someone reads this and says, maybe I should fly out of Traverse City instead. Because it's reliability that brings you home. read more

Never flying with North Country Sky again. Here's why: They moved our connecting flight up 8 hours (so we would miss it) with only 3 days to make new accommodations. Our new accommodations resulted in an $800 car rental and a 6 hour drive to Northern Michigan. This was a big inconvenience, of course. Then, while we were in Northern Michigan, they cancelled our return flight without explicitly being told to do so. UNBELIEVABLE!! This resulted in another car rental and another 6 hour drive from Northern Michigan to Chicago. We spoke with Amy K. With North Country Sky and there was nothing they could offer us that would help our situation. If you must fly with them I would highly recommend travel insurance and if you don't have to, don't! In fact, I would add a day or two to your itinerary to accommodate last minute changes in their schedule. read more

A regional airport that has a flight to and from Chicago Midway (flymanistee.com) on a daily basis minus some weekend days. It's an affordable option for flying up north from the city. They beat flying into Traverse City by a significant amount. Typically you can book round trip flights from $120-170. The drive to Traverse City is about 65 miles so you still have a little distance to travel once you land. There is a standard TSA checkpoint which only takes a few minutes to get through. You can show up about 30-45 minutes before your flight with no problem. Only one "terminal" so you get to walk out onto the runway to board the plane. The regional charter only has 20 seats and a larger jet depending on the demand. Blacker airport is a nice new building which is very well done. The inside has a lot of nice wood work and has plenty of space to move around, fresh bathrooms, and vending machines. read more

See all

It is such a convenience when flying. You don't need to drive 3 hours to get to the airport, it's just right down the road and off you are!! read more

Manistee County Blacker Airport - Very convenient! - Airports Near Me - Manistee, Michigan

See all

The North Country Sky charter plane that we took from Chicago to Manistee was very small. The only con was that my husband and I both had to ask for seat belt extenders, even though we don't need to use them with any other airline. The small seats I don't really mind, but I suggest getting larger seat belts or providing all the passengers with extenders for small planes such as that one. On the plus side, the flight was priced right, (at $200) and I love the free water bottles that MBL provided after security. Very convenient. Going through the security line was also very smooth and easy. read more