Beginning Oct. 2, Southwest Airlines will expand its nonstop service between Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and San Diego International Airport to five days a week year-round, the airport announced Thursday.
For the past couple of years, Southwest’s direct service to San Diego has only been available on Saturdays during the summer season. With the expansion, Southwest will fly the route year-round five days a week — Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays — on full-size 737 aircraft. Flights to San Diego all depart in the afternoon.
There are currently no other direct flights between MKE and California.
“After testing the San Diego route on Saturdays during the last couple of summers, Southwest’s expansion to the West Coast shows that when our community supports new service by booking travel from Milwaukee’s airport, it can help convince airlines to add more flights from MKE,” said airport director Brian Dranzik. “By stepping up and flying from MKE, we also support new jobs and boost our local Wisconsin economy.”
As Milwaukee Mitchell’s largest carrier, Southwest now offers nonstop flights to 17 destinations from MKE. On March 6, Southwest will launch new daily nonstop service between Milwaukee and Austin, and the airline is again offering nonstop service to popular spring break destinations.
In addition to daily service to Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Myers, Southwest will fly between MKE and Cancun on Saturdays and Sundays from March 6 through April 7. Nonstop service to/from Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota/Bradenton, Florida, will also be offered during the same period.
Passenger traffic at Milwaukee Mitchell was up 5% in 2024, with more than 6.3 million passengers, the airport recently announced. That’s the highest level of passenger traffic at the airport since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but still remains below pre-pandemic levels. The airport served nearly 6.9 million passengers in 2019.
Dranzik recently discussed the airport’s performance and plans for improvements in an exclusive Q&A with BizTimes.
