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Air Tran partners with SkyWest to add six destinations from Milwaukee
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Air Tran Airways and SkyWest Airlines will begin operating services to six cities from Milwaukee under the Air Tran code from December, the carriers announced on Wednesday. From December 4, SkyWest will operate flights from Milwaukee to St. Louis and Pittsburgh on behalf of Air Tran. Akron/Canton, and Indianapolis will come online in January, with Des Moines and Omaha joining the system in February. The flights will be operated using 50 seat CRJ-200 aircraft.
Air Tran has dramatically increased service at Milwaukee, creating a focus city in the face of Midwest Airlines financial troubles and capacity reductions. SkyWest currently provides some service from Milwaukee operating as Midwest Connect, but that airline’s recent takeover by Republic Airways is resulting in those services being brought “in house” to be operated by Republic. Rather than SkyWest redistributing Milwaukee-based aircraft throughout the system, it seems they will simply get a new coat of paint and enter service with a competitor.
Milwaukee has proven to be a low cost battleground this year, with Republic’s takeover of Midwest, rebranding as a regional jet operation with Frontier code share service, Air Tran’s ascendance to create a rapidly growing low-cost hub in the city, and the entrance of Southwest Airlines for the first time in November will definitely create a prime position for Milwaukee travelers wanting to take advantage of lower fares. With the market being flooded with seat capacity, and demand in a still-weakened economy fare less robust than comfortable for many carriers, area residents can expect aggressive discounting to ensure full flights.
Each airline appears to be hedging a different bet. Midwest enjoys a strong identity in Wisconsin, having served Milwaukee and other cities in the state for nearly three decades. The carrier built Milwaukee into a hub, and had formerly depended on high yield business travelers attracted to the carrier by spacious first-class quality coach seating, meals served on fine china, and the famous baked-on-board chocolate chip cookie. While the high yield business traffic dried up, Midwest tried several strategies, including regional service routed through Milwaukee to fill aircraft, in which more seats were installed and fares lowered to take advantage of leisure travel markets. The carrier also entered into codeshare agreements with the likes of Delta and Northwest to fill aircraft with connecting passengers. The future of the Delta and Northwest agreements seem shaky ; Republic is steadily encroaching on the turf of many former contract partners with new brands Midwest and Frontier. Midwest's reputiation in Wisconsin may also have suffered due to recent job cuts by parent Republic, as well as the end of all Midwest-operated flying, essentially shuttering Midwest as an airline to continue in name only as a wholly Republic operated brand.
Regional flying is nothing new to Air Tran – the airline once contracted regional flying to Air Wisconsin. Those short haul services from Atlanta, branded AirTran jetconnect, were eventually replaced by the company’s own 717 and 737 equipment after it was determined they could operate more profitably on the routes than regional jet equipment. Regional jet flying from a small hub usually poses risks however, as the high cost of regional jet operations normally requires high yields or high load factors to pay it’s way. SkyWest will be shouldering the burden of fuel costs and pricing on the AirTran agreement, and revenue will be split between the two carriers.
Southwest Airlines takes a different tack in Milwaukee. The Dallas-based low cost giant, which began service to the Wisconsin city on November 1, has traditionally operated point-to-point service, in contrast to Midwest and Air Tran, which are dependent on connecting traffic to make Milwaukee a success. Southwest has inaugurated service to six “focus cities” throughout their network (the airline eschews traditional “hubs”, which bank flight arrivals and departures) including Kansas City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Orlando, Tampa, and Baltimore. While those cities provide vast connection opportunities to Milwaukee travelers, there is also strong demand for nonstop service to each city. While Southwest is a new player in Milwaukee, it enjoys strong brand identity in Chicago, where it hopes to attract many from the northern suburbs of that city to try the carrier’s service from Milwaukee, which is actually closer to some northern suburbs residents than Midway Airport, on the city’s south side.
Milwaukee will certainly be the city to watch a portion of the brewing low cost battle play out. While discounters Southwest, JetBlue, and AirTran have mainly enjoyed operations without much direct competition in the past, the growth ambitions of each will lead to more low-fare showdowns in the future.
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