Midwest Express Announces Airline Relaunch At Milwaukee Airport

Midwest Express is making its way back to Milwaukee.

The Midwest Express brand will be in the air by the end of 2019, the airline announced Wednesday at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.

In August, Midwest Express entered into an agreement with Elite Airways to provide flight operations for the Midwest.

The Elite Airways aircraft with Midwest Express branding will fly to three destinations out of the Milwaukee airport: Cincinnati; Omaha, Nebraska; and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Midwest Express President Greg Aretakis said the airline saw a serious need for service to these three cities based on historical data and feedback from the community.

“We received input from many local businesses regarding their travel needs and this feedback factored into our choice of initial destinations,” Aretakis said.

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Aretakis said the airline is sticking to the original Midwest Express brand, so passengers can expect the same qualities. He also said the business airline will offer weekly flights throughout the day with the occasional weekend flights.

“When we started talking to customers about what they wanted we asked them, ‘What are you looking for?’” Aretakis explained. “What I think is amazing to a lot of people is that is the big seats weren’t the first thing on everyone’s list. It was convenience.”

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said the county is excited travelers can get nonstop flights out of their hometown airport.

“Providing nonstop flights to key business destinations fills an important niche, and we couldn’t be happier to welcome Midwest Express back home,” Abele said.

Aretakis said Midwest Express is in the process of creating a flight booking system and hiring staff.

“In the coming weeks, we will complete our final steps to begin marketing flights before the end of the year,” Aretakis said.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story was updated to clarify how long the Midwest Express brand was out of use.