Southwest to fly AirTran's FLL-Milwaukee route in November

June 11--Southwest Airlines will be taking over a few AirTran Airways routes systemwide later this year, including its Fort Lauderdale to Milwaukee flights as part its merger of operations.

When the schedule changes take effect Nov. 4, travelers leaving Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Milwaukee on Southwest will have to go to Concourse B in Terminal 1 instead of Concourse C, airport spokesman Greg Meyer said. AirTran operates in Concourse C.

In November, AirTran also will begin new daily nonstop seasonal service between Fort Lauderdale and Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, and Philadelphia.

Combined, Southwest-AirTran accounted for 19.5 percent of total passenger traffic at the Fort Lauderdale airport this year through April, making them its top carrier, followed by Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways with 16.9 percent each.

This month, the duo is expected to operate a total of 63 daily departures from Fort Lauderdale, 45 for Southwest and 18 for AirTran, Meyer said.

In March, Southwest received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a single certificate of operation, an important step toward becoming one airline by 2015.

The Dallas-based low-cost carrier acquired competitor AirTran in May 2011.

The airlines' route maps are being connected from a customer and technical standpoint as part of the merger, Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins said recently.

As Southwest takes over more of AirTran's domestic routes, this is freeing up planes for redeployed to new international markets, Hawkins said.

Last month AirTran started new daily nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and also from San Antonio to Mexico City and Cancun, Mexico.

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