CWA Director Brian Grefe. MWC file photo.
MOSINEE, WI (WSAU) — United Airlines will soon discontinue flights from the Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee.
Airport Director Brian Grefe says that United’s last day of service will be January 3rd, and the reason behind the move is a familiar narrative these days.
“Primarly, it’s a worker shortage,” Grefe told WSAU News on Monday. “It’s not so much workers here at CWA, we do have a great team here, but nationwide. They are eliminating eight other markets that are our size just to free up that workforce.”
United flew between CWA and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, where customers would make connections to other flights. The service from CWA was operated by Air Wisconsin under the United Express brand name.
The airport is still served by American Airlines, which also flies between Mosinee and Chicago, and Delta, which offers flights to its hubs in Detroit and Minneapolis.
While Monday’s news wasn’t a desirable outcome Grefe says it does give him the chance to reevaluate the airport’s offerings, which could lead to a new discount carrier and new destinations.
He adds that discussions about services and destinations are constantly happening behind the scenes and usually aren’t all that interesting, but Monday’s news will bring a new sense of urgency to those talks. “They’ll be more timely with more emphasis to meet the [passenger] demand. Quite honestly we have a good base population that likes to travel and likes to use the Central Wisconsin Airport.”
Monday’s announcement was part of a larger decision by United to discontinue service to a handful of smaller airports nationwide, citing pilot shortage and other worker shortages as the primary reason. Reports indicate that United has also planned to discontinue or cut back service to markets like College Station, Texas, and Watertown, South Dakota.
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