I found THIS little nugget today announcing that Airtran will hold its annual shareholder meeting in Milwaukee on May 18th this year.  At first glance, I might accuse Airtran of just pandering to the Milwaukee market.  On further reflection, this is a bit more than just pandering.  It’s too much effort for just pandering.  It strikes me more as respect quite honestly. 

I’m sure most see this as a shot aimed at Midwest Airlines since Midwest is considered Milwaukee’s home town airline.  But I’m not sure it is aimed at Midwest so much as it might be aimed at both Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Delta and United.  There just isn’t any brand for Midwest even in Milwaukee anymore and to think it might still exist is to not give enough credit to those who live in Milwaukee.  They aren’t fools, they can read newspapers and they’re just as smart as any other market. 

But Milwaukee is a loyal city and I think Airtran is making the right moves in Milwaukee.  Rather than just showing to offer a good fare, they’re investing in the city and I suspect that Milwaukee will respond to that.  That’s why I think this move is aimed much more at Southwest, American and, yes, even United and Delta.  AA, Delta and United all serve Milwaukee primarily through their nearby hubs and have never shown much respect for Milwaukee as a market.  At least not until Airtran and Southwest showed up. 

Southwest is the newest airline to arrive but Milwaukee has courted them for years without success.   Southwest didn’t pay too close attention to Milwaukee until Airtran did.  Only Airtran showed up, grew their presence in the market and now is respecting the city by making it a focus city, an employee domicile and now their shareholder meeting site.  This all is very smart on the part of Airtran and it will get noticed.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax