Florida-based Spirit Airlines, which earlier this month emerged from bankruptcy protection after four months of restructuring, announced today that it will add direct flights from Milwaukee to Los Angeles, Baltimore and Nashville in May.
Flights between Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) will begin on May 8 and operate on Thursdays and Sundays.
Flights between Milwaukee and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and between Milwaukee and Nashville International Airport will begin on May 9 and operate on Mondays and Fridays.
The addition of direct service from Milwaukee to LAX is significant because Mitchell International has had limited service to the West Coast in recent years and currently has no direct service to Los Angeles. The airport’s only other direct flights to California resume in June to San Diego, provided by Southwest Airlines only on Saturdays until Oct. 2, when that service will be expanded to five days a week year-round.
Mitchell International does currently have direct flights to Baltimore and Nashville, provided by Southwest.
Earlier this month, Southwest began direct service from Milwaukee to Austin, Texas, adding a new destination for travelers from MKE.
Spirit’s new flights from Milwaukee will be operated with Airbus A320 aircraft featuring eight “big front seats” and 174 standard seats.
Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection last November, after years of losses. It was the first major U.S. carrier to file for Chapter 11 since 2011 and it reported a net loss of $1.2 billion last year.
Long known as a no-frills discount airline, Spirit now plans to rebrand itself as a premium airline, as part of its turnaround strategy.
Passenger traffic at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport continues to improve and was up 5% in 2024, with more than 6.3 million passengers. 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.
