Southwest plans to begin service to Milwaukee

Southwest Airlines Co., shrinking flight capacity and headcount, plans to begin service this year to Milwaukee, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said today.

The geographic expansion is the carrier’s first addition of four cities in a single year since 1994, after Minneapolis/St. Paul in March and planned flights at New York’s LaGuardia airport in June and Boston in August. Southwest didn’t say when it will begin flights at Milwaukee.

Southwest’s ability to add cities while cutting capacity 6 percent this year follows stepped up pruning of unprofitable flights. The airline, seeking to control costs as the recession erodes travel demand, also has offered employees incentives to leave.

“I look forward to bringing our great, low-fare service and the nation’s largest airline network to our new friends in Milwaukee,” Kelly told shareholders today during the airline’s annual meeting at its Dallas headquarters. The addition of the city will help Southwest serve the northern Chicago area, he said.

Kelly has said the revenue and demand slump in the U.S. airline industry is the worst he’s seen since joining Southwest in 1986. He called for an unprecedented halt to growth at the airline following three straight quarterly losses, its first since 1991, and has said he can’t rule out involuntary furloughs or seeking union concessions.

The airline now flies to 65 U.S. cities.