tvnwz

Well, my airfares out of MKE are up about 30% year to year. YMMV

knope2001

Yeah, though Delta has upsized aircraft and their traffic is up, they don't seem especially in the market to add destinations. If Southwest were to (for example) drop BOS / LGA / DCA / MSY / MSP / LAX / SFO SEA, at best I'd expect Delta to add a few large RJ's to BOS, maybe DCA, and LAX nonstop in in summer.

if things pick up for Southwest in MKE I could see them add DAL, SAN in summer, maybe a flight to BNA. But we have to make sure we don't lose anything first.

I think MKE's most realistic shot at transatlantic service is by luring a budget airline to use MKE as a lower-cost access point to Chicago. I'm pulling for Norwegian...who is adding low-fare nonstop to London from a few US locations...to fly into MKE as their way to enter Chicago. Conventional airlines already serve O'Hare and rely on a fair amount of business and premium cabin traffic, none of which in Chicagoland will drive past O'Hare to get to MKE.

knope2001

Here's another set of stats I have not posted in quite some time, the market share breakdown at MKE. This is for the month of October 2013.

passengers....share.......airline
246,903 …… 43.5% …… WN/FL
160,167 …… 28.2% …… DL
059,076 …… 10.4% …… UA
040,366 …… 07.1% …… US
030,531 …… 05.4% …… AA
027,392 …… 04.8% …… F9
002,632 …… 00.5% …… AC
000,914 …… 00.2% …… other


Here's the year-over-year change in passengers

4481 …… DL
2239 …… AA
2117 …… US
417 …… other
208 …… UA
17 …… AC
-9328 …… F9
-30224 …… WN/FL

Total 567,981, off 5.0% from 2012

Connecting traffic was responsible for a great deal of the over-inflation at MKE a handful of years ago. A lot of the total volume decrease in the past few years has similar come form reductions in connecting flow. If you strip out the connections, MKE's year-over-year traffic for October was only off 2.7%. That's pretty similar to September local traffic as well. I think we're reaching a point where MKE's local market is finally stabilizing. Many other comparable airports have similar year-over-year numbers:

-5.9% Cincinnati
-2.7% Columbus
-3.7% Indianapolis.
-2.2% Kansas City
+1.5% Louisville
-3.1% Omaha
-2.2% Pittsburgh
-0.4% St Louis

So hopefully MKE is leveling off for now and things will stabilize.

BlueHorseShoe2000

Hi knope,

Thanks for posting these numbers. I'm glad you found a new "home" for this information.

Looking at the numbers for the June/July/August period, I have to say that I was surprised on how weak routes like BOS/LGA/DCA/MSP were for Southwest. If these are the numbers for peak travel, I'd hate to see what the rest of the year looks like. I guess the real concern for those living in Milwaukee as these routes become more and more marginal as Southwest dumps the 717 fleet and reduces the connecting traffic flows. Flying 737s on routes like MKE-BOS/DCA during the winter months is probably overkill.

As for getting new service, I'd be very curious to know what the airport is actively pursuing. The trend of airlines moving away from 50 seat rj flying likely means no one will step in to reinstate lost service to places like CMH, IND, or OMA. Realistically, I could see something like the following happening:

1) JetBlue, Delta or American start BOS if Southwest bails
2) American or JetBlue add DCA if Southwest reduces or eliminates the route
3) Delta up-gauges some LGA flights to larger aircraft
4) American adds MIA
5) More flights/ larger aircraft to hub cities

I think if MKE wants Trans-Atlantic service, a big travel bank/subsidy will have to be established to support such a service. It doesn't seem the business community deems this a priority.

mke9499

Just another small way how MKE sets itself apart from most other mid-size airports...

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwauk...234011561.html

I actually look forward to this time of year at MKE.

knope2001

The Boingo contract at MKE is being extended 3 more years, but instead of being a flat paywall it will be free for the first 20 minutes. After that it reverts to existing pricing of $4.95 per hour or $7.95 for unlimited use in 24 hours.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwauk...234491001.html

MKE's top complaint is lack of free Wi-Fi according to the airport director Barry Bateman. This doesn't match free / unlimited some airports have, but its something. Boingo ad the airport split the revenue 50/50, which was about $167k last year. They estimate this change will reduce that about $60k, but it is at least something of a positive for passengers and the airport's attractiveness. this isn't one of those "free" situations where you must si

knope2001

A local kid decided he had enough stuff and decided to donate his birthday money ($297) to the MKE airport instead. A budding airport / airline geek! Obviously not exactly a charitable organization and of course the money could have gone to feeing homeless people, etc. But something of an interesting and cute story nevertheless.

http://www.cbs58.com/news/top-storie...234537991.html

kannon99

For those wondering, the Billy Mitchell Pub & Cafe is closed for a full remodel. Not sure of a reopening date, but I would imagine it will be a couple months.

mke9499

A DL 737 blocked only open runway at MKE on Jan 1, while airport ground crews cleared another runway for arriving/departing traffic.

http://www.wisn.com/news/south-east-...z/-/index.html

DL aircraft disabled due to blown tires, a result of overheated brakes

tvnwz

I was scheduled to be on the second to last DC9 flight to MKE sunday night from DTW. The snow in DTW delayed and eventually cancelled the flight (DL 0545). Kinda sad. I was going to chat up the crew, take some iphone pictures from my seat in 4D, but sadly, I had to take a plain old MD88 that was delayed but left earlier. Sigh. I was really looking forward to it.

knope2001

Dang! What a disappointment. So it goes... :-(

traveller001

It was actually an MD8 that turned off on taxiway KILO but apparently still blocked 1/19. It did stop all traffic until the other runway was cleared of snow.

tvnwz

So, anyone there when the final DC9 showed up Monday, 1/6?

JustaGoodGuy

Does anybody know the timeline for the re-opening of the Miller Brewhouse? Is it going to be the same concept and menu, or is it going to be changed up a bit?

tvnwz

I believe it is just a cosmetic refresh. More modern looking. It is scheduled to reopen by the end of February. I love having breakfast there when I can.