Airport type Public Focus city for Southwest Airlines Elevation 220 m | Serves Milwaukee, WI. Code MKE Phone +1 414-747-5300 | |
 | ||
Operator Milwaukee County Airport Department Location 5300 South Howell Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Hub for Freight Runners Express Address 5300 S Howell Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA Owner Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Profiles | ||
General Mitchell International Airport (IATA: MKE, ICAO: KMKE, FAA LID: MKE) is a civil-military airport five miles (8 km) south of downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a medium-hub primary commercial service facility.
Contents
- Plane spotting at general mitchell international airport june 2016
- History
- Awards and recognition
- Expansion
- Facilities and operations
- Terminal
- Concourse E closure
- Statistics
- Military presence
- Ground transportation
- Accidents and incidents
- References
It is named after United States Army Air Service General Billy Mitchell, who was raised in Milwaukee and is often regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Along with being the primary airport for Milwaukee, Mitchell International has sometimes been described as Chicago's third airport, as many travelers in the suburbs north of Chicago use it instead of Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports. It is also used by travellers throughout Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. An Amtrak railway station opened at the airport in 2005; the station is served by Amtrak's Hiawatha Service running between Chicago and Milwaukee several times daily. Since March 1941, the airport's weather station has been used as the official point for Milwaukee weather observations and records by the National Weather Service, whose area office is located in Sullivan.
Plane spotting at general mitchell international airport june 2016
History
The original airfield was established in 1920 as Hamilton Airport by local business owner and aviator, Thomas Hamilton. Milwaukee County purchased the land on October 19, 1926, for the Milwaukee County Airport. The first airport terminal there, the Hirschbuehl Farmhouse, opened in July 1927. That month, Northwest Airlines, Inc., began air service from Milwaukee to Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul. In August 1927, world-renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh visited the Milwaukee airport. Kohler Aviation Corporation began providing passenger service across Lake Michigan on August 31, 1929. During the late depression years (from 1938 to July 1940), a new two-story passenger terminal building was constructed by the Works Progress Administration. On March 17, 1941 the airport was renamed General Mitchell Field after Milwaukee's military airpower advocate, Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell. On January 4, 1945, Mitchell Field was leased to the War Department for use as a World War II prisoner-of-war camp. Over 3,000 prisoners and 250 enlisted men stayed at the work camp. Escaped German prisoners were often surprised to find a large German American population just beyond the fence. The present terminal opened on July 20, 1955 and was designed by Leigh Fisher and Associates. It was renovated and expanded in 1985, designed by Miller, Meier, Kenyon, Cooper Architects and Planners Inc. The "hammerhead" section of the D concourse was added in 1990. On June 19, 1986 the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors renamed Mitchell Field to General Mitchell International Airport.
The airport was formerly a hub for AirTran Airways, Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines. On December 28, 2014, the airport became a focus city for Southwest Airlines, after finalizing their merger with AirTran Airways.
The airport is owned and operated by Milwaukee County, but some Milwaukee business leaders and politicians have advocated privatization or leasing it to a third party for financial reasons.
Awards and recognition
In October 2008 a Condé Nast Traveler poll ranked Milwaukee County's General Mitchell International Airport fourth in the nation using categories of Location and Access, Design, Customs and Baggage, Perceived Safety and Security, as well as Food, Shops and Amenities.
Expansion
Mitchell International has expanded the runway safety area on their runways after an accident on January 21, 2007, when Northwest Airlines Flight 1726 skidded off the runway after aborting takeoff. According to the FAA, most airports are encouraged to have a runway safety area no shorter than 1,000 feet (305 m), though many airports do not.
Construction of this runway safety area began at the end of summer 2009 and was completed in fall 2012.
There is also a "Master Plan" idea to increase terminal area by stretching the existing terminal (in some cases, to almost double the size) or begin construction of a separate terminal. Nearly all cases would involve major reconstruction on the airport itself, and would have a huge impact on the airport's traffic. These plans were, however, drafted before Mitchell saw a significant reduction in carriers and flights. More recently, in 2012, there have been discussions of closing one concourse as a cost-cutting move.
In late 2015, Milwaukee County hired Izzy Bonilla to be the new airport director. As director, Bonilla has proposed converting Concourse E (the least busy of the three) into an international/domestic terminal and combining security checkpoints to allow movement between concourses behind security.
Facilities and operations
General Mitchell International Airport covers 2,180 acres (880 ha) and has five asphalt and concrete runways ranging from 4,183 to 9,990 ft (1,463 to 3,045 m). A helipad measuring 100 by 100 ft (30 x 30m) is on the south side of the airport property. The 07R/25L runway has an overpass with Howell Avenue (WI-38) running underneath. For the year ending May 3, 2016, the airport had 112,942 aircraft operations, an average of 309 per day: 37% air taxi, 50% commercial airline, 12% general aviation and 1% military. In March 2017, there were 100 aircraft based at this airport: 17 single-engine, 47 multi-engine, 26 jet and 10 various military aircraft. The main building houses the Mitchell Gallery of Flight, a non-profit museum on the concession level, the usual retail outlets, including a small food court and a branch of Renaissance Books which is believed to be the world's first used book store in an airport. An observation lot along the northern edge of the airport is open to the public and tower communications are rebroadcast using a low-power FM transmitter for visitors to tune in on their car radios. There is also a new lot on 6th Street, with a Wisconsin historical marker giving the airport's history. In 2008, airport security jokingly designated an area in Concourse C following security checkpoint the "Recombobulation Area".
Terminal
General Mitchell International Airport has 48 gates and 40 jetbridges on three concourses in one terminal. All international arrivals lacking border preclearance must pass through the International Arrivals Building.
Concourse C Gates: C9-C12, C14-C15, C17-C25
Airlines: Air Canada Express, Southwest Airlines, Volaris
Concourse D Gates: D27-D30, D34, D36, D38-D39, D41-D49, D51-D56
Airlines: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Air Lines, Delta Connection, Frontier Airlines, OneJet
Concourse E Gates: E60-E69
Airlines: United Airlines, United Express
Concourse E closure
By early September 2016, all airlines housed in Concourse E will move to Concourse C. This will allow the airport to remodel the concourse and move International Arrivals processing into the terminal. This will close the International Arrivals Building just north of the terminals.
As of October 16, 2016, the move of United Airlines and United Express is on hold.
Statistics
U.S. Department of Transportation data for 2nd Quarter 2010 showed that the average airfare out of Milwaukee dropped lower than the average at 93 other U.S. airports. Mitchell's average fare was $93 less than O'Hare's, $78 less than the nation's average and $10 less than Midway's. Out of the nation's top 100 airports, Mitchell was one of only three at which average 2nd Quarter airfares were lower in 2010 than in 2009.
Airports Council International reported that during the 2nd Quarter 2010, Mitchell was the third fastest-growing airport in the world, exceeded only by airports in Istanbul, Turkey and Moscow, Russia. Mitchell was the only U.S. airport among the top 30 fastest growing airports worldwide.
The airport is owned and operated by Milwaukee County. Mitchell's 8 airlines offer over 200 daily departures. Over 30 airports are served nonstop or direct from Mitchell International. It is the largest airport in Wisconsin. The airport terminal is open 24 hours a day.
Military presence
The airport also hosts the General Mitchell Air National Guard Base on the eastern area of the airport property, home to the 128th Air Refueling Wing (128 ARW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit of the Wisconsin Air National Guard flying the KC-135R Stratotanker. The wing performs both Federal and State missions and consists of approximately 1000 Air National Guard personnel, both full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and Air Reserve Technicians (ART), as well as traditional part-time guardsmen, available for worldwide deployment in support of Air Mobility Command and combatant commander tasking. The wing also maintains a KC-135 flight simulator, providing training proficiency for its own crews, as well as other KC-135 flight crews in other air refueling wings and air mobility wings in the Regular U.S. Air Force, the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard.
Prior to 2007, a second military installation on the southwestern portion of the airport property was known as "General Mitchell Air Reserve Station" and was home to the 440th Airlift Wing (440 AW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) flying the C-130H Hercules. While based at General Mitchell ARS, the 440 AW numbered in excess of 1500 full-time AGR, ART and part-time traditional reservists. Pursuant to 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) action, the 440 AW relocated to Pope AFB, North Carolina, in 2007 and the former AFRC facilities were turned over to the Air National Guard, resulting in the installation's renaming.