Originally Posted by
flyYX
Impressive to say the least. I think the Southwest coming to MKE has made a huge difference for all involved. I don't want to take away from AirTran's thunder, but even they admit that Southwest has a huge following in the Chicagoland region.
Very much anecdotal, but in the Southwest gate area there seems to be a larger number of Chicago-linked passengers than I commonly see...things like Bears jerseys, or Cubs hats, or fire department jackets from N Illinois. And the last time I parked in remote, I stood next two two ladies from the Chicago are (who were strangers) talking specifically about using MKE for Southwest instead of MDW.
Obviously not scientific or necessarily representative, but for what it's worth. Southwest brings a certain level of credibility to Milwaukee that nobody else can. It's also worth remember that Southwest has a whole lot of loyal flyers who for years have been conditioned to consider alternate airports (Manchester for Boston, for example). A WN flyer in Phoenix coming to Chicago is likely to consider Milwaukee as a viable alternative now.