Airline Jobs in Milwaukee

According to MilwaukeeBizJournals.com, Republic Airway Holdings is now pitting three airlines' hometowns in a bidding war for at least 400 jobs, which could create new jobs in Milwaukee.

Frontier Airlines is ready to exit bankruptcy in the hands of Midwest Airlines owner Republic Airways Holdings Inc.

Frontier CEO Sean Menke gave an exclusive interview about the deal to Denver Biz Journals. Apparently Denver, Indianapolis and Milwaukee all are competing for the jobs.

Menke, who is overseeing both Frontier and Midwest operations, said he is looking for cost savings and incentives on where to locate heavy maintenance and parts warehousing jobs now at Denver International Airport.

Frontier and its soon-to-be owner Indianapolis-based Republic are now deciding whether to relocate 400 or more positions, some 250 of which are based in Denver, as part of their consolidation. Those jobs include the Las Cruces positions.

“It’s an interesting sort of dilemma that the politicians are in here ... There’s been a lot of questions about whether they’re going to step up and support the company,” Menke said told the Denver Business Journal. “With the city and county, it’s been a relationship that’s been strained at times ... We’ve asked and we’ve pushed, and we’ll see what they come up with at the end of the day.”

BizJournals said that state and city officials are putting together a package of incentives that includes about $1 million in job-creation and job-training tax credits. The deal also includes cost reductions on things such as facility leases at the airport, which are meant to offset a city tax on aircraft maintenance parts that some airline officials have called onerous.

Republic CEO Bryan Bedford, who is currently the chief executive of Midwest, has said he’s looking to make a decision on where to locate jobs quickly after receiving the three cities’ packages.

Menke said, “We are working on the platform of a new company, and we have to ensure we’re doing the right things in terms of incentives and cost reduction,” he said. “Because if you make an emotional decision, it may feel good from an emotional standpoint, but it may not be the best decision.”