Is The Airliner Bar & Grill Still Open? Bar Rescue Update (East Alton, IL)

The Airliner Bar & Grill, at 573 E Airline Dr in East Alton, Illinois, appeared in Bar Rescue's ninth season episode "The Airliner is Grounded," which aired April 20, 2025 on Paramount Network. As with other episodes, the visit addressed the bar's drink program, staffing and sales ahead of a renovation and relaunch that kept the bar's name, minus the leading "The" in some current listings. The specific changes made to the bar's layout or menu during the episode were not detailed in the sources reviewed for this update.

Airliner Bar & Grill remains active at the featured address. According to Yelp, which maintains at least two listings for the address that were separately updated in June 2026 and July 2026, the bar continues to operate at 573 E Airline Dr under a posted schedule running from 11 a.m. into the early-morning hours on weeknights and until 3 a.m. on Saturdays, with Sundays closed. A Great Rivers & Routes regional tourism directory and a RiverBender.com community directory both describe the Airliner as a neighborhood pub known for its chili and a Friday all-you-can-eat fish special, along with darts, slot machines and a jukebox.

A Google Places listing for the same coordinates also shows the location as operational. A Nextdoor community page and the Great Rivers & Routes directory both continued to list the Airliner as an active local pub as of this check, with no closure or ownership-change notices found among the sources checked. No sources reviewed for this update report a closure, sale, relocation or name change for the Airliner beyond the informal dropping of the leading "The" in some current listings. The business's address, general concept as a neighborhood bar and grill, and posted contact number are consistent across the directories found, indicating continuous operation under the same ownership since its Bar Rescue appearance in April 2025.