Nuts About Southwest

I agree with Jeff. When I lived in Chicago, I flew SW all the time. We moved to Kenosha, WI (between Chicago & Milwaukee), so now I fly United for direct flights anywhere. It's still an hour drive for me to ORD, but 35 min to MKE. I would love to have SW in MKE.

I used to fly SWA all the time when I lived down south, however, here in Wisconsin we are about to become the stepchild of Northwest with Midwest fading and the UA and AA flights to Chicago are cancelled or delayed at least 50% of the time. Walking through Concourse D (Midwest) recently, it was nearly EMPTY at 5:15pm. Any chance you guys are reconsidering moving MKE up the list given the gates likely to become available and good growth of the northern Illinois suburbs full of people looking for a low-hassle alternative to O'Hare? Maybe the economy is a touch too rough right now to think expansion but perhaps the first steps can be taken until the economy recovers?

Michael,
sounds like we have a lot in common!
Blog Boy

I also grew up with trains and planes. There was a railroad running behind the house I grew up in and I was always watching the trains. I guess I was in elementary school when my parents took me to see the planes at what was then Haror Field in Baltimore. They took me on my first plane trip on a DC3 to Atlantic City, NJ. I believe it made two or three stops along the way. Later when Friendship Airport opened (now BWI) my parents would take me there on Sunday afternoons and I loved watching the ground crews doing their work and wondering about how things were done behind the scenes. My parents said that I said I wanted to work for an airline when I grew up. I had relatives in NC so I was able to fly on National to Fayetteville,NC or Eastern to Florence, SC on Martin 404s. I spent over 30 years in the business world travelling around the country. I would always talk to the flight attendants and Customer Service people about their airlines and what it was like to work for an airline. I always thought that there was a better way to run an airline and still had the thought that I would like to work for an airline some day. Well, a little over seven years ago I finally grew up and started working for an airline, Southwest, and I love every minute of it. So, the next time you're in BWI during the afternoon or evening, ask for me. I'd LUV to meet you.

Hi Tom,
Thanks for the kind words.
Brian

Hi Brian,

I have an airline blog of my own but I want to let you know that I think that you've done a really good job here - I've read your excellent articles in Airways and then recognized your name when I first visited the Southwest Blog. Keep up the good posts!

I want to join you Kim. When do we go? That America by Air exhibit looks really, really cool.

And - I do Milwaukee 3-4 times a year from El Paso since that's where the company I work for is. My boss does Milwaukee to Vegas at least six times a year. So add my vote to mike's for MKE as a new SWA city!

Hi Mike,
It's great to hear from America's best magazine! (Thanks for going back to the old logo, by the way.) I am far from being the expert on choosing new cities, and thankfully, we do have some great experts. I can tell you that we look at Milwaukee and Mitchell International (MKE) on a regular basis. whether that means we will someday start flying to MKE, I can't say--primarily because I don't know. I do know that we currently are trying to build service between our existing locations.
Brian

Brian,
At least a couple of us here at Trains magazine feel the same way about Southwest! When will you guys start flying into and out of Milwaukee?

Brian,
This exhibit sounds way cool! When are we going?
LOL
You're now free to visit plane and train exhibits around the country...
Kim
EBB :)