County Requires MKE Airport For Employee Travel

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Image from the airport.

Milwaukee County employees are now required to fly out of Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport for all work-related travel.

“This is a logical change. When County employees travel for work, they must use our community’s airport,” County Executive David Crowley said in a statement. “If we all choose MKE over a Chicago airport, we could add dozens of new flights, hundreds of new jobs, and millions of dollars to Wisconsin’s economy, rather than sending those dollars to Illinois.”

The new rule was first announced at an event held by VISIT Milwaukee for the beginning of National Travel & Tourism Week.

The airport is owned and operated by Milwaukee County, and its operating budget is largely funded through user fees. Now when county employees travel on the government dime any funds captured by the airport will go back into the budget of a county-owned asset.

The policy was enacted by the county executive through an update to an operating procedure manual for county employees. A spokesperson for Crowley told Urban Milwaukee that travel budgets are set at the department level, and that these budget limits are not expected to change under this policy.

A recent audit of the county’s purchasing and travel cards shows that between 2018 and 2020, approximately $1.04 million was spent on employee travel using a county travel credit card.

“Today, I am calling on all businesses and units of government to follow our lead. Help support our hometown airport by requiring all employee travel to flow through MKE,” County Executive Crowley added. “As a result, we will see more economic impact and job growth in Milwaukee County, along with more flight options at Mitchell Airport.”

For several years now the airport has had a public campaign aimed at convincing Milwaukee-area residents to fly out of Milwaukee. The airport is much smaller and easier to navigate than Chicago’s O’Hare, the nearest major international airport. And in order to bring more flights to Milwaukee Mitchell, airlines have to see the demand. So the airport is urging local travelers to use their “hometown airport” to attract more flights and destinations.

The airport has also been adding amenities, like a popular coat check service that allows travelers to leave their winter coats at the airport while flying to warmer destinations. And efforts to make Milwaukee Mitchell a nice airport to travel through have been paying off, with the airport winning its second consecutive Airport Service Quality Award for “Best Airport by Size and Region Award” in 2022.