After delays, the city settled on Mesaba Airlines to replace American Airlines. The first flight out of Columbia will take off Tuesday. Columbia's last airline carrier flew away before a new one landed. The airport delayed all flight plans for eight weeks.

Now Mesaba Airlines, a wing of Northwest Airlines, is the new airline service offing flights out of Columbia. The airline offers three daily flights bound for Memphis, with departure times set for the early morning, afternoon, and early evening.

There are 94 non-stop destinations from Memphis. A ticket from Columbia to Memphis costs about $400 through Northwest Airlines. That's comparable to the ticket cost for a flight from Saint Louis to Memphis. Mesaba is one of a handful of airline carriers the city of Columbia considered for service. Those who purchase tickets by the end of the month will get1,000 bonus miles from Northwest Airlines.