Where's the corporate love for Midwest Airlines?

Several Milwaukee-area business leaders have independently and loudly voiced their support of Midwest Air Group Inc.'s board of directors and its resistance -- so far -- to a hostile takeover attempt by AirTran Holdings Inc.

Many of those business leaders have asked Small Business Times why the region's top business advocate groups have not stepped up to become vocal defenders of the hometown airline.

So, I posed that question to Julia Taylor, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC), and Timothy Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC).

In sum, Taylor and Sheehy say their organizations will need to work with the airline that survives -- be it Midwest as we know it now or AirTran through its acquisition.

Here is Taylor's response to the question about why the GMC hasn't become a vocal defender of the Oak Creek-based parent company of Midwest Airlines:

“The GMC Board of Directors supports Midwest Airlines remaining in our region, especially given the interests of key stakeholders-corporations and our global corporate headquarters, our community and the Midwest employees. We are not interjecting into the shareholder decisions but expressing our support for the important role that Midwest plays in our region. The Midwest 'blue' brand, the corporate headquarters and the Midwest hub are keys to our regional identity and economy. The ability for business travelers and residents to travel to key cities non-stop and with well-managed connections are an important business attraction for our region. The leadership of Midwest Airlines has been active members of our community even during the most difficult years in the airline's history. We are proud to call them friends and colleagues and extend to them and the company our wholehearted support and endorsement."

And here is Sheehy's response to the same question:

"The question posed by Small Business Times from 'some of their readers' that are inquiring as to why MMAC has not stood up to defend Midwest and keep it locally owned, is on one hand oblivious to basic economics, and on the other hand well directed at our role to “improve the region’s business climate. Dear Steve: Let me assure your readers that we are alive and kicking in meeting our mission to 'serve as an advocate for our members, to support the economic prosperity of the region, and to provide programs and services that meet the needs of our membership.'  We are all about improving the competitiveness of this region in an effort to grow our prosperity.

"However, we hold no sword in defense of this mission, magic or imaginary, that allows us to slay the interests of shareholders in a public company. There is no 'local ownership' of Midwest. Its owners are its shareholders, and in the real world those shareholders will make their decisions on where they feel the best value lies for that investment. So this dragon (for those who view Air Tran as such) that is harassing Midwest can only be sleighed by an appeal to the shareholders, who have a real sword to defend this takeover, based on Midwest’s ability to show them greater value as a stand-alone airline.

"Milwaukee’s interests in high-quality air service may or may not be well served by the outcome of this battle. Whoever wins will have a great interest, I would assume, in serving this market well and generating income from it.

"Now does this mean our role (MMAC) is reduced to observer status, no, but it needs to be put in context of the real fight above. MMAC first became involved with Midwest when it began flying out of here in 1984, and I personally was involved in meeting with the employees when then Midwest Express was moving their corporate headquarters to Milwaukee from Appleton. We were there organizing the business community to make advance purchases of tickets in the aftermath of Sept. 11 when the airline was in deep trouble. We were again at the forefront of the business community in advocating for the tax change to treat their capital equipment more equitably, and in defending the county’s role in refinancing the hangar. We have been in the cockpit for every major community action regarding Midwest.

Specifically, in this recent move by Air Tran, I met personally with the CEO of Air Tran and explained to him that from our members’ perspective, no one viewed this as a positive for air service here in Milwaukee, that they (Air Tran) were not buying an airline, but a community. That is how ingrained this airline is with its customers, and in addition, that we were concerned about losing a headquarters and carrier that was synonymous with Milwaukee. He obviously has a different view of Milwaukee’s air service future …

"The point is, our membership is very concerned about what this means and what it could do to the quality of air service to and from Milwaukee, but there is this big ‘ol free market at work, and that is the reality."

So, now we know.