Frontier Airlines leaving Outagamie County Regional Airport

GREENVILLE - Frontier Airlines is taking off from Outagamie's airport, and it may be a one way flight.

Airport officials say the announcement doesn't come as a total shock because the airline industry is still struggling worldwide. And for a small local airport, this loss of one airline could hit the airport and its passengers in a big way.

“I'm disappointed,” said Brenda McCormick, Appleton.

“I'm not happy with that. I use that as a jump flight to Chicago to Phoenix and back,” said Dennis Loper, Wautoma.

Frontier Airline passengers aren't looking forward to saying goodbye to the airline.

“Now I'm like, where do I go? Because I wanted to come back to Frontier since it was my best and now I won't be able to 'cause they're leaving,” said McCormick.

Outagamie County Regional Airport Director Marty Lenss says he's not thrilled with it either. But he says the airline told him because of high fuel prices and the state of the economy, Frontier couldn't continue its three flights a day to Milwaukee.

“The high fuel prices we've experienced certainly continue today, as we saw in early spring, continue to wreak havoc on the industry as a whole,” said Lenss.

Frontier Airlines did not return our calls for comment. Lenss says Frontier handles about six percent of the airport's passengers in a year. He says Delta and United Airlines should be able to accommodate those passengers. And while some customers may miss the airline, Lenss has a bigger concern with Frontier's departure.

“What it does tell is one, the industry hasn't recovered. It's still very much a volatile industry and the economy is still shaky,” said Lenns.

Lenss says the other airlines are doing well, and he doesn't worry about them leaving Outagamie. But losing even one airline can be worrisome for a small airport.

“We gotta really reach out to the community and dig deep and use and support our local air service options. Or it will make it a challenge going forward to keep it,” said Lenns.

And in turn, passengers who like the convenience of close flights worry about the sustainability of the airport and other airlines here.

“We'll lose the next one and the next one and the next one and then who's gonna fly us?” said McCormick.

Last year, Republic Airways merged Frontier with Midwest Airlines. Midwest had been headquartered in the Milwaukee-area. It was founded as Midwest Express in the 1980's as a division of Kimberly-Clark.

Lenss says Frontiers last flight will be on September 12th. However, he says that doesn't mean it's gone for good. Lenss says he hopes in the near future Frontier can return to the airport once the economy becomes a bit stronger.