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AirTran to expand its Milwaukee hub
Published December 29, 2009 - BizTimes Daily
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AirTran Airways today announced it will expand its Milwaukee hub in April by adding 50 pilots to support its Boeing 737 jets and a minimum of 50 flight attendants to support both Boeing 717 and Boeing 737 operations.
The annual payroll for the Milwaukee-based positions is expected to exceed $6.5 million, according to the company, which is a subsidiary of Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran Holdings Inc.
As of April, AirTran will employ more than 300 crew members in Milwaukee and will support the growing Milwaukee hub with a pilot and flight attendant base, a line maintenance station, regional human resources, sales and community relations staff and an airport station consisting of more than 200 customer service agents and other personnel. The airline's total Milwaukee payroll is estimated to be more than $11.5 million per year.
"As we continue to grow our Milwaukee operation, we have reached a point where we need to add flight crew bases in Milwaukee to make our airline more efficient and to support the flying out of Milwaukee," said Kevin Healy, senior vice president of marketing and planning for AirTran. "These new Milwaukee jobs further demonstrate our commitment to southeast Wisconsin."
Flight crews will have the option to bid for the Milwaukee positions based on seniority with the company. The airline notified its pilots and flight attendants of its plans on Monday.
Reacting to AirTran’s announcement today, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker issued the following statement: “This is outstanding news leading into the New Year. We welcome both the jobs that AirTran Airways is creating in Milwaukee, along with their phenomenal growth at Mitchell International Airport. Their increased operations in 2010 bode well for our region.”
AirTran’s expansion of its Milwaukee hub comes on the heels of an announcement by Republic Airways Holdings Inc. that it will save 800 jobs in Oak Creek and move 800 new jobs to the region by the end of 2010. Republic, the new parent company of Midwest Airlines, plans to move the jobs to Oak Creek and Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport.
