Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is on pace to serve nearly one million more air travelers this year than last as the industry navigates a recovery from the depths brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 3.2 million passengers used the airport from January through July this year, compared with about 2.3 million over the same period in 2021.
Despite the rebound, the year-to-date figure for 2022 is considerably lower than the January-July passenger count in 2019, the last full year of air travel before the pandemic took hold, when a total 4.1 million passengers boarded and disembarked planes at Mitchell.
The airport had total passenger traffic of about 4.5 million all last year, with the COVID-19 pandemic still affecting leisure and business travel. A mere 2.6 million traveled through Mitchell in 2020, nearly half that total in the first three months before the COVID-19 pandemic taking hold in March of that year. Passenger traffic at Mitchell stood at just 23,664 in April 2020, a monthly pandemic-era low point for the airport.
The increase in passenger traffic is welcome news for the airport, which generates revenue from landing fees, parking, concession sales and airline ticket sales.
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“We are entirely funded by user fees. We don’t receive any property tax dollars from Milwaukee County,” airport spokesman Harold Mester said. “Plus, the more travelers who choose Milwaukee, the more flights we will get from the airlines.”
Although air travel at Mitchell showed dramatic year-over-year improvement each of the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2021, passenger traffic fell slightly in July to 468,786 compared with the same month last year, when the total stood at 472,422.
The decline stemmed from airlines reducing their flight schedules nationwide in July to improve schedule reliability in the face of ongoing shortages of pilots, flight attendants and ground agents, Mester said. The challenges forced airlines to cancel thousands of summer flights and, coupled with inflationary pressures, dial back ambitious growth plans. The overall staffing situation at the airport is “gradually improving,” Mester said.
“There are plenty of opportunities for individuals to work in a variety of capacities at the airport, whether that’s for the airlines, concessionaires, service providers or for the airport itself,” Mester said.
Despite the staffing challenges, Mitchell has been able to provide high-level customer service to passengers using the airport, Mester said.
Earlier this year, Mitchell earned its first-ever Airports Council International World Airport Service Quality Award for its success in “delivering an outstanding customer experience.” The award showcases the world’s top airports based on feedback from travelers through independent surveys administered at the airport.
Mitchell competed with airports throughout North America with 5 to 15 million annual passengers (based on passenger counts prior to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Earlier this month, Mitchell received its highest scores ever in the annual J.D. Power North America Airport Satisfaction Study.
As Mitchell continues to rebound from the drastic downturn in activity brought on by the pandemic, the operating hours for the airport’s shops and restaurants will vary based on flight schedules, which change often, and availability of staff, Mester said.
“Our concessionaires are required to keep at least one location open on each concourse until one hour, or less, prior to the last flight departure each day. This is common practice at airports nationwide,” Mester said. “These outlets are not open for arriving flights late at night, as arriving passengers don’t linger in the airport and make purchases.”
Despite the bounce back in air traffic this year, Mitchell’s numbers remain far off where they stood more than a decade ago, when the airport bustled with record-breaking activity.
Air travel at the airport stood at 9.8 million in 2010 when Mitchell became one of the most competitive airports in the country with several airlines battling for market share, led by Midwest Airlines, the Oak Creek-based carrier that touted itself as Milwaukee’s “hometown airline” and once had a Milwaukee air travel market share in excess of 50%. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines made a long-awaited arrival in Milwaukee in 2010 while AirTran Airways was also part of the competitive mix at that time and eventually grew to take over the top market share at Mitchell despite a failed takeover attempt of Midwest Airlines.
Passenger traffic at Mitchell stood at 9.5 million in 2011 but after a merger between Midwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines went awry and Southwest acquired AirTran, the competitive landscape at Mitchell dramatically changed and the number fell to 7.5 million in 2012.
About 6.9 million passengers used Mitchell in 2019, the last full year not affected by the pandemic. Leisure travel already has fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels at Mitchell, Mester said.
“Nothing can ever replace in-person interactions,” he said.
Business travel, on the hand, has only partially rebounded and may not fully recover until 2023 or 2024, Mester added, while stressing that there are signs for optimism.
“Some businesses have realized that they have an advantage over their competitors by meeting with clients in person,” Mester said.
Southwest remained the dominant airline at Mitchell with a 36.2% market share in July, the most recent month for which figures are available. Delta Air Lines stood in second at 24.9% followed by American Airlines at 14.5% and United Airlines at 12.8%. Two carriers new to the Milwaukee market, Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways, had market shares of 4.1% and 2.9%, respectively.
