Frontier Airlines Inc. will cut 213 jobs at Mitchell International Airport in November, the airline's parent company told state officials. Republic Airways Holdings Inc. said in a formal notice to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, disclosed Friday, that the positions will be eliminated permanently between Nov. 14 and 23.
A spokesman for Frontier said Friday night the airline has about 1, 200 employees in Milwaukee, meaning the job cuts amount to 18% of Frontier's workforce here.
Frontier Airlines said last week it intends to cut nearly a third of its 67 flights from Milwaukee in November in a move to end routes that are losing money. Frontier's service to six cities will be grounded: Green Bay; Madison; Dayton and Cleveland, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; and Minneapolis.
At that time, Frontier Airlines spokesman Peter Kowalchuk said the routes lost a total of $25 million in the first six months of this year.
Kowalchuk said the airlines studied the profitability of every route, and the evaluation showed that the smaller aircraft routes - almost all of which are based in Milwaukee - were unprofitable.
The planes now flying those routes seat either 37 or 50 passengers.
Airport spokeswoman Pat Rowe said Friday that like other airlines, Frontier is looking to trim costs.
"It's been a very difficult environment for airlines," Rowe said. "That's been going on for quite some time. The cost of fuel. It's something that every airline is doing. They're looking at their revenues and looking at what they need to do in order to keep their operation going at a profit." Delta Air Lines Inc. has said it intends to reduce flying next year, while the parent company of United and Continental airlines plans to keep flying at this year's levels in 2012.
A list of the positions to be eliminated wasn't immediately available. In an email Friday night, Kowalchuk said, "All areas of the Milwaukee operation are affected: Customer service, Maintenance, Flight Crews." Some of the jobs are union positions represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, according to Frontier's notice to state officials.
Rowe said Frontier has many types of jobs in Milwaukee.
"They've got maintenance and office personnel. They've got such a wide range of people," she said.
AirTran is first in passenger market share at Mitchell, followed closely by Frontier, Rowe said.
Republic Airways Holdings Inc., which is headquartered in Indianapolis, bought Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines and Denver's Frontier Airlines in 2009.
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