NW had mainline service MKE-LAX at least since my arrival here in 2004, but cut it a year or two ago along with all other non-hub flights after abandoning the CRJ focus city strategy. Low fares to the west coast have been a fixture of MKE, which is presumably why the route got cut in the first place when fuel prices soared. I've reliably been able to find $250ish flights to SFO, SAN and SEA with a little schedule flexibility. Upgrades used to be pretty easy to come by on mainline flights to non-hub destinations from MKE, so I'll be happy to have this flight back. NW also offered good connections from LAX, including NRT and central coast destinations via American Eagle.

I got the same treatment on Sunday trying to rebook MKE-FLL n February. they currently have me booked on their NWA codeshare via IND and I am not happy with that routing.

I decided not to wait for their callback. Just took the refund. Booked a flight on DL that was $30.00 less than my original fare. Much to my surprise, it was $150.00 lower than AirTran.

Hazelrah keeps telling us AirTran fares are low, not this time.

[QUOTE=RSVP;10081014
Hazelrah keeps telling us AirTran fares are low, not this time.[/QUOTE]


They are low; I never said they are the lowest ;) By all means shop around, Delta seems to know what they are up against and they are competing w/FL on a daily basis. Oftentimes I have heard folks comment that Southwest is not always the lowest fare.

The only thing I want is a choice, and if someone, be it a corporation or some other entity deprives me of said choice, I'll say something.

Flew into BWI on NW tonight, good flight! It just strikes me that Milwaukee is living in the dark ages, Midwest is holding you back.

Looks like we'll see an AirTran press release in the next day or two. From JSOnline:

"AirTran plans to convert its Baltimore seasonal service to year-around service, according to a source familiar with the airline's plans. The Orlando, Fla.-based carrier will drop flights to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., as of Sept. 3.

"AirTran's schedule to Florida will have more flights to Orlando; more service to Fort Lauderdale; flights to Tampa broadened from seasonal to year-round service; and service to Fort Myers increased from weekly to daily flights. AirTran also plans to add flights to its Milwaukee-Las Vegas run.

Those changes will occur from September through December."

The details on exactly what's new and already planned are not quite clear, however:

Fort Lauderdale: Shouldn't that say "new" instead of "more"? Probably just a bad word choice. This would be a new market (or more technically correct, a resumption from 2003).

Tampa: The pledge of year-round instead of seasonal is new, although experience with AirTran suggests that pledge is not exactly a sure bet.

Fort Myers: Increasing from weekly to daily is not new...it was in the schedule for months already and has actually been delayed by several weeks.

Orlando & Las Vegas: Both are 1x/day during September and have been scheduled to increase to 2x/day later in fall. That's been in the schedule already for many weeks. Is there expansion on top of this, or like Fort Myers are they talking about something already planned?

Baltimore: Continuing through fall/winter is a restoration of what they had planned earlier...MKE-BWI was not originally planned to drop during fall/winter but then was pulled several weeks ago. Curious to see if they do thru service to LAS as they did last winter, which was essential to keeping loads much above 50%.

Washington: This was already planned to end 11/1 for the winter, but now cutting it 9/3 makes one wonder if this is more than a simple seasonal cut.

If they really wanted to make a statement they would add LA and try to compete with Northwest. Although that is probably not a good idea it would make a statement. They could also bring back San Diego for the winter. Routes like SAN and LAX are probably the only west coast routes that one can make money on in December.

I wish that would happen, NWA needs some competition on that route. Given the choice, I would pick AirTran as NWA is my airline of last resort.

This is a link in the current MM newsletter:

http://www.midwestairlines.com/MAWeb...n=DYK_Charters

You can then click to see the aircraft used for charters.

Airtran's new flights
 

As part of its expanded service, AirTran Airways (NYSE: AAI) will offer passengers daily nonstop flights from Milwaukee to the following destinations: Atlanta; Baltimore; Ft. Myers, Fla.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; New York (LaGuardia); Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; and Tampa, Fla.

Wow. They are going to go head to head with NWA on the LA flight

I had the same reaction when I read the press release. However, if you look at the chart showing the build-up in flights from September-February, there is no mention of Los Angeles or Phoenix. Perhaps the press release was preapred in a rush and this was simply over-looked.

It appears that LAS will only have two flights. Given Midwest's cut-backs on the route, I thought AirTran might have been a little more aggressive and ramped-up to three flights per day. The press release also mentions that RSW will be flown daily but there is no mention of whether it will be seasonal or not. I'm assuming yes, but who knows.

Could Northwest reinstate LAS and MCO service?

Doubtful. the legacies have been in full- retreat from these markets. I would say it is more likely that NW might instate service to SEA and SAN.

Official AirTran press release:

http://pressroom.airtran.com/phoenix...240&highlight=

MKE-FLL service seasonal, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, 1x daily, except Tu/Wed; MKE-MCO freq steps up in winter.

We are talking about Northwest here. Adding a couple of flights to MCO or LAS during the peak season wouldn't be a complete shock.

I do agree with you that a seasonal flight to SEA would probably be the most likely addition if Northwest decides to add any additional flights. SFO could be a possible addition next summer as well.

If LAX is part of the expansion, it has yet to be loaded into the online reservations.

It looks like that initial press release was in error. There is no service to LAX offered beyond September. At least yet.

Yeah, I could not find a flight either. I sent them an email about it.