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A major airline is looking to create hundreds of jobs in Milwaukee.

AirTran Airways Inc. recently announced that it will establish pilot and flight attendant bases in Milwaukee, a move that will create about 100 new jobs in the city. The company, which is based in Orlando and has its largest hub in Atlanta, hopes the new bases will support its growing operations in Wisconsin.

According to an article by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the bases will initially consist of 50 pilots to support Boeing 737 flying and a minimum of 50 flight attendants to support Boeing 737 and Boeing 717 operations. However, AirTran could eventually double its workforce to include about 200 employees.

Those who work at the bases, which are expected to open in April, will garner a total payroll of more than $6.5 million per year, bringing the company’s total payroll to more than $11.5 million per year. Initially, existing flight crews will have the opportunity to apply for positions in Milwaukee, and then new flight crews will be hired.

Currently, all of AirTran’s pilot crews are based in Atlanta, while the company’s flight attendants are based in Atlanta, Orlando and Tampa. There is a large number of available candidates to fill additional positions in Milwaukee, as Midwest Airlines recently laid off hundreds of flight crew members.

The new bases are expected to cut costs by reducing “non-productive crew movements.” The bases will decrease the need for flight crews to be transported from their base to a city where they can begin their duties.

AirTran now operates a line maintenance station, regional human resources, sales and community relations staff in Milwaukee, as well as an airport station that consists of more than 200 customer service agents and other personnel.

“As we continue to grow our Milwaukee operation, we have reached a point where we need to add flight crew bases in Milwaukee to make our airline more efficient and to support the flying out of Milwaukee,” Kevin Healy, senior vice president of marketing and planning for AirTran, said. “These new Milwaukee jobs further demonstrate our commitment to southeast Wisconsin.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 9:35 am and is filed under Milwaukee, job search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.