After the purchase of Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines by Republic Airway Holdings, the consolidation of common elements of the airlines such as operations, reservation centers and maintenance facilities is moving forward and northward to Milwaukee.
Republic decided to make Milwaukee the headquarters for its airline operations. Denver loses its Frontier Airlines maintenance facilities and New Mexico loses the Los Cruces reservation center. The final results of these personnel movements will mean many who have grown accustomed to a southwest lifestyle will find themselves shivering in Milwaukee should they choose to relocate.
Milwaukee will gain a hub status for Midwest that was originally there. They will claim almost another 800 jobs after the shift are completed. Flight attendants will also have a Milwaukee base.
All of this comes due to a generous tax incentive and loan program with the state of Wisconsin.
“This is great news for Milwaukee and all of Wisconsin. I am pleased that we could successfully work with Republic Airways and retain the airline hub in Milwaukee, continuing a strong tradition in Milwaukee County,” Governor Doyle said. “We worked hard in our last budget to move Wisconsin forward towards a strong recovery that continues our commitment to Wisconsin businesses and will create jobs and lead to future growth. Today’s announcement would have not been possible without those efforts.”
Of course, Denver and Denver International Airport will be losing several hundred jobs. Their politicians and managers are in a sour grapes mode, however they were simply outbid with incentives by Milwaukee. Besides, Southwest Airlines will be growing their presence in Denver and will probably more than make up for any Frontier losses.
Time will tell how these corporate machinations will play with customer service and overall employee morale. Will Milwaukee be a better hub than Denver? How will delays play out in the winter? Then again these questions would have more bearing on passengers were the airlines operating with a consolidated schedule. That might not be the case in the near future. Midwest will stick to its Milwaukee roots and Frontier will stay, well, on the frontier with their main base in Denver.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
