Airline to Open Flight Crew Base at Midwestern Hub.

AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AAI) , today announced that the airline will open both a pilot and flight attendant base in Milwaukee to support its increased operations. The flight bases will open in April 2010 and will consist initially of 50 pilots to support Boeing 737 flying and a minimum of 50 flight attendants to support both Boeing 717 and Boeing 737 operations. The payroll for these Milwaukee-based positions is expected to exceed $6.5 million per year.

As of April 2010, AirTran Airways will employ more than 300 Crew Members in Milwaukee and will support the growing Milwaukee hub with a pilot and flight attendant base, a line maintenance station, regional human resources, sales and community relations staff, and an airport station consisting of more than 200 customer service agents and other personnel. The airline’s total Milwaukee payroll is estimated to be more than $11.5 million per year.

“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,” said Kevin Healy, senior vice president of marketing and planning. “These new Milwaukee jobs further demonstrate our commitment to Southeast Wisconsin.”

Flight crews will have the option to bid for the Milwaukee positions based on seniority with the company. The airline notified its pilots and flight attendants of its plans on Monday, December 28, 2009.