Frontier Airlines will further cut its flights out of Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport, the company said Monday.
Non-stop flights to Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville, Omaha and Pittsburgh will be eliminated effective June 1, said Lindsey Carpenter, a spokeswoman for Frontier. The move reduces Frontier flights from 18 per day to seven per day out of Mitchell.
Those routes are operated by Chautauqua Airlines, which is also a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings. The aircraft will be reassigned from Frontier to another Republic subsidiary.
Frontier flights between Milwaukee and New York-LaGuardia also will be suspended, Carpenter said.
All of the cuts were made for economic reasons, she said.
“We’re focused on the most profitable flying we can with all our aircraft,” Carpenter said.
WARN notices were sent to 125 Frontier employees as a result of the reductions. The employees will have the option to relocate to other positions within Frontier, but the company doesn’t know whether it has enough positions available for all of them. They will otherwise be furloughed on June 1.
Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Inc., which operates Frontier, reported first quarter results last week, with a net loss of $7.1 million, or 15 cents per diluted share.
Delta Airlines recently announced it will add daily non-stop flights from Mitchell International to both New York airports this summer.
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele released a statement about the flight reduction: “While we’re disappointed Frontier Airlines is reducing flights in Milwaukee, we are pleased they will still offer service at Milwaukee County’s General Mitchell International Airport (MKE). We continue to work hard to keep MKE an attractive option to passengers and other airlines looking to grow their business.”
