If there's one thing Wisconsin business travelers can look forward to this fall, it's that, well ... they may be a bit better off than some frequent fliers in other states.

Travelers departing from Dane County Regional Airport and Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport can expect to find competitive fares and schedules that are likely to escape the deep cuts anticipated in other regions when fall flight lineups are released. Still, the experts say, Wisconsin travelers will be affected by some of the same trends that are plaguing passengers everywhere.

The recent announcement of Republic Airways' $31 million plan to buy Midwest Airlines is the latest in a series of mergers and reorganizations that have left veteran travelers and industry experts scratching their heads about what will happen next. In south central Wisconsin, where Northwest Airlines previously controlled as much as 43 percent of the market, that airline's merger into Delta Airlines last October is still sorting itself out.

Scott Mast, an owner of Burkhalter Travel in Madison, which is celebrating its 50th year in business, says the combined Delta and Northwest organization now controls just over 50 percent of the passenger traffic at Dane County Regional Airport.

"Whether that's healthy or not remains to be seen, although fares out of Madison have been relatively competitive," Mast says. "We're certainly not as competitive as Chicago, but it's getting better and we have nonstops to New York, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Minneapolis and Detroit, so we've been getting a little bit more."

Sharyn Wisniewski, marketing and communications manager for Dane County Regional Airport, says airport director Brad Livingston paid a personal visit to Delta planners after last year's merger announcement to help them understand the growing needs of the Madison business community.

"We tried to impress upon them to some degree the importance of the routes to Epic Systems, University Hospitals, CUNA and really all of our frequent fliers in the area," Wisniewski says. With all of the airlines retrenching to some degree, it is important to make a continued push on behalf of the area's business travelers, she says.

In contrast to many airports, Dane County's passenger traffic has been on the increase recently, rising 1.3 percent for the first quarter, compared with an 11.3 percent decline nationally. Airport officials are keeping their fingers crossed that performance will pay off when details of the airlines' fall flight schedules emerge.

"We'll see how well we've done," Wisniewski says. So far, "we've done better than many airports. In some places the airlines are just pulling out of airports completely and we have not had that problem. We always like to see things added on new, but at this point we're just trying to hold on to what we have."

The picture is slightly different at Mitchell International, where heavy competition from AirTran already has taken a toll on Midwest Airlines and Southwest Airlines will be entering the market with nonstop flights to six destinations later this year. The planned merger of Midwest into Republic Airlines may give Midwest an opportunity to reinvigorate itself and travelers may benefit from the fight in the short run.

However, says Mast of Burkhalter, none of these competitive changes are likely to reverse the trend toward decreasing customer service and increasing fees tacked on to ticket prices. For example, from the current $15 charge for checking a bag, some airlines are moving to $20 if you pay at the counter (although there may be discounts online); others are charging extra for the additional leg room in exit row seats.

"The airlines are hurting just like everybody else from the downturn in the economy," Mast says. "They just keep paring back and paring back. Now you're paying for seats and bags and it's just bare bones, point-to-point travel.

"Travel agents are the last bastion of service left in the industry," he adds. When last-minute flight changes threaten to derail a client's business itinerary, "We deal with it, we're responsible and we take good care of them. Anytime that we have a schedule change, we're right on top of that" and with agent access to the industry's largest database of available flights, travelers have the best chance of getting back on their way.

-- Sereno, former business editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, is a senior manager at Wood Communications Group in Madison. E-mail jenny.sereno@wcgpr.com or call (608) 770-8084.

Labels: Jennifer_Sereno