Airline exec questions Milwaukee as destinationRepublic’s Bedford says city not leisure market
The Business Journal of Milwaukee - by Rich Rovito

The top executive of Republic Airways Holdings Inc., which purchased Midwest Airlines earlier this year, offered some disparaging comments concerning Milwaukee as a travel destination during a recent presentation to investors and industry analysts.

“Milwaukee is not a destination market by price. I don’t care how cheap you make it, you don’t go there unless you have to,” Republic chief executive officer Bryan Bedford said at the Next Generation Equity Research Airlines Conference in New York City Dec. 9.

The comments drew laughter from the audience, but Milwaukee business and travel leaders didn’t find much humor in Bedford’s assessment.

Bedford also told analysts that Milwaukee-area travelers are willing to pay more to book a flight on Oak Creek-based Midwest Airlines, which Republic purchased in July for $31 million.

“We have 1.1 million frequent fliers in Milwaukee and they will pay a premium to fly on Midwest,” he said. “They love that cookie.”

Bedford’s comments referred to the baked-on-board chocolate chip cookies that long have been a symbol of Midwest, an airline that historically has catered to business travelers and at one time offered unique amenities such as free wine, champagne and gourmet meals before drastically reducing such offerings in recent years.

Bedford also spoke of Indianapolis-based Republic’s transformation of Midwest into a “virtual airline” with no airline certificate, and no Midwest-owned or leased aircraft, unions or pension.

“All that stuff is gone,” Bedford said. “It’s simply Midwest branding operated by Republic.”

The Milwaukee-area tourism economy in 2009 is projected to be about $2.7 billion, according to Visit Milwaukee, the city’s visitors and convention bureau. About 30 percent of that total is derived from leisure travel, Visit Milwaukee spokesman Dave Fantle said.

“People are making conscious decisions to visit the Milwaukee area,” Fantle said. “We’re a great surprise destination. We have a high ‘wow’ factor.”

Fantle offered to take Bedford on a “familiarization” tour of the Milwaukee area so that he could view local attractions.

“Once Mr. Bedford has had an opportunity to spend more time here, I’m sure he’ll be a new advocate for the city,” Fantle said.

Midwest spokesman Jim Reichart pointed out that Bedford made the comments in the context of a much broader presentation about Republic’s operations.

“You have to consider the environment and the audience. You speak a little bit differently to that crowd,” Reichart said. “This was not at all a commentary about Milwaukee’s importance as a leisure destination.”

The Milwaukee area attracts more leisure travelers in warmer months, but air travel to the area for the rest of the year tends to be limited mainly to business and personal purposes, Reichart said.

Milwaukee tends to mainly attract business travelers, a segment on which Midwest built its business, Republic spokesman Carlo Bertolini said.

“Milwaukee isn’t Las Vegas or Orlando,” he said. “It’s not an insult, it’s just a different traffic pattern. The bulk of the traffic in Milwaukee isn’t leisure.”

Business travel remains the “bread and butter” of Midwest’s business, Bertolini said.

Lower fares often don’t stimulate ticket purchases for business travel like they do for leisure purposes, meaning many Midwest customers pay higher prices, Bertolini said.

“Business travel happens when business needs to be done,” he said