The Milwaukee Airlines/Airport Examiner worked as a ramp agent at General Mitchell International Airport (GMIA) and is writing a book about day to day airport and airline happenings during those years, featuring events that stirred excitement, but didn't make news.
It seems to this columnist that instances of non-routine passenger deplaning and flights that return to the airport for any reason have been reported by local news media as "emergencies" more often since the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 shifted and fixated commercial aviation safety and security closer to the center of public attention.
This month WTMJ reported:
An AirTran flight turned around on August 3 after a warning light signaled something might be wrong with the plane and a Frontier Airlines flight from Saint Louis with smoking brakes was met at the gate by paramedics and fire fighters on August 13.
The Aviation Safety Network lists accidents involving flights headed to or from Milwaukee. The Aviation Herald lists commercial air transport crashes, accidents, incidents, news and reports involving aircraft with 19 or more seats.
To the best of this Examiner's knowledge, there have been no aviation employee meltdowns at MKE anywhere near as noteworthy as former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Stater's example last Monday, August 9, at JFK, widely reported by the Associated Press news agency and other news media.
However, this writer was present a handful of shifts when an employee unclipped his or her airport ID badge, handed it over solemnly, or with a flourish, to a supervisor or manager then walked away.
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