For General Mitchell International Airport and the citizens of the Milwaukee-area, 2009 will certainly be a year to remember. Discussions came and went on the privatization of the airport as a means to bailout the poor fiscal position of Milwaukee County. Hometown airline Midwest Airlines changed hands for a second time, this time to Republic Airways, a company that will certainly operate the business in a much different fashion than Midwest traditionally has run. And finally, Southwest Airlines started service at the airport, triggering a pricing war with low-cost rival AirTran.

It has been fun, it has been a great flight, but this is the end of Midwest Airlines as we know it. The Republic Airways’ buyout of Midwest Airlines certainly will accelerate their slow transition from a luxury first class airline, to an inexpensive low cost carrier. Sure, the name might stick around for awhile, but for starters our hometown, local airline, isn’t local anymore.