Milwaukee County annouced today that September was the busiest month ever at Mitchell International Airport. I'm glad I could help.

I flew out of Mitchell in mid-September and back in (via perhaps the scariest landing of my life) at the end of the month. So, I and my traveling companion account for four of the 648,779 passengers that used Mitchell in September, up nearly 17 percent over the previous September.

The County also noted that there were nearly 20 percent more airline seats into and out of Mitchell this year than last September.

"The number of flights is increasing and airfares out of Mitchell are getting even more competitive. Passengers throughout Wisconsin and the northern Chicago suburbs are comparing airfares and finding they can save a lot of money flying out of the Milwaukee airport," said County Executive Scott Walker in the statement.

Of bigger news, perhaps, to travelers is the fact that the average fare at Mitchell was lower than 75 other U.S. airports, according to second quarter statistics compiled by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation.

"Mitchell's average fare was about $44 less than O'Hare's and $28 less than the nation's average fare," said the airport's director Barry Bateman.

The competition between AirTran Airways and Midwest Airlines has likely been a key factor in these stats. And now that Southwest Airlines begins service to Mitchell this weekend, prices may become even more competitive and the number of travelers at Mitchell could rise even further.