The 8 millionth passenger for 2010 at General Mitchell International Airport landed today.
She's Carol DeSoto, and she arrived on Southwest Airlines Flight 404 from Baltimore Washington International Airport at 9:25 a.m.
DeSoto is visiting Milwaukee for her parents’ 60th wedding anniversary and was surprised to find out she was the lucky passenger.
Airport Director Barry Bateman presented DeSoto with a new Mitchell Airport suitcase filled with goodies to commemorate the occasion. Southwest Airlines’ Brad Hawkins also was on hand to celebrate the milestone and kick off Southwest’s one-year anniversary of starting service at MKE. He presented DeSoto with a pair of round-trip tickets to anywhere Southwest Airlines flies.
"We are very pleased to see that our growth is not only from southeastern Wisconsin area, but in large part from northern Illinois travelers who are making the under-60-minute drive and taking advantage of our lower fares and less hectic atmosphere than found at O’Hare," said airport director Barry Bateman.
The number of passengers using Mitchell International in 2010 has already exceeded 2009’s record total of 7,946,562. Obviously, the final 2010 count will be released in January.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
