Milwaukee International Airport receives high honors for customer service

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- For the second year in a row, Milwaukee International Airport has received the Airport Council International Airport Service Quality Award.

The airport was named Best Airport by Size and Region, a high honor in the airport industry.

"ASQ survey is collected in a scientific manner from travelers while they're here at the airport, and the questions that are asked are the same all over the world," said Brian Dranzik, Milwaukee International Airport director.

Wednesday, March 8, a fancy, new and shiny award sits in the lobby of Milwaukee International Airport right next to passengers waiting for their flight -- an award which shows off the best of our hometown airport.

And although this award is new, it might seem familiar to Milwaukee travelers.

"For the second year in a row, based on the surveys collected independently from travelers throughout our airport, they've rated us one of the top airports in North America, and we are very pleased and happy that they've done so," said Dranzik.

Milwaukeeans at the airport said the award is fitting.

"I mean Milwaukee is so easy. I'm going to Atlanta, I go every 20 feet and I have to ask directions," laughed traveler Mary Ann.

Mary Ann is a grandmother and frequent traveler, but said she hasn’t seen her family in a long time.

"They're (her children) are all over the country, the other, with the other granddaughter, she's in Connecticut with her two little boys, and my son is in Virginia Beach and the other is off in New York," said Mary Ann.

Mary Ann went on to say when she comes to this airport, it feels familiar.

"I'm sure it’s the people. When you think about all the people involved in just getting you from point A to point B, it's amazing."

Milwaukee International Airport competed with airports from all across the nation. The airport sees close to five to 15-million passengers annually.

When travelers make their way through the airport, they have the option to complete the third-party independent survey about their airport experiences.

"Travelers gave us very high marks in many areas of the survey, including our efficiency at check-in, our security screening process, the cleanliness of our facilities, and most importantly, the friendliness of our employees," said Dranzik.

Dranzik admitted the labor shortage has made it difficult to find and retain employees, but the ones that have answered the call, helped make the airport first class.

"The emphasis that we have, the county -- to hire a diverse workforce that resembles our population here, and diverse in our culture, here in Milwaukee -- those are things that we want to do," said Dranzik.

Dranzik also touched on the Republican National Convention coming to Milwaukee in 2024, an event he says the airport is ready for.