Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

A new CTU notebook is in progress up. Meanwhile . . .
MKE LOL
“A new animated ad campaign is seeking to persuade local travelers who use Chicago airports to choose Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport instead,” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
Doesn’t Milwaukee try this every year?


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Maybe even twice a year. From April:
“Milwaukee County on Monday launched a new corporate recognition program at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport that, among other things, seeks to encourage local business travelers to fly out of the airport instead of airports in Chicago.”
The assignment for the Journal-Sentinel: Have these campaigns ever worked?
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Aside: Remember Milwaukee’s campaign to persuade Chicago millennials to move there? Well . . .
“A state-run marketing campaign aimed at getting more millennials to move to Wisconsin will continue, despite Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and state lawmakers not funding it in the state budget,” Wisconsin Public Radio reported in August.
“The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. requested $10 million over the next two years to cover the costs of continuing the campaign, which began in 2018 under former Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
“Evers did not meet that request and GOP lawmakers who control the state Legislature also declined to push the funding during budget negotiations for the campaign aimed at people ages 21 to 35.
“However, according to WEDC officials, the organization has identified $4 million within other parts of its budget to fund the program during this fiscal year and expects to do the same in 2020-21.”
Was the campaign working?
“According to a survey conducted by WEDC, millennials in 13 targeted communities across the Midwest are 9 percent more likely to consider moving to Wisconsin for a job opportunity after one year of the marketing campaign.
“The survey, which polled about 1,350 people ages 21 to 35 in the targeted areas before the campaign and again 12 months later, saw particularly large bumps in positive sentiments about Wisconsin in Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.”
Okay, but did positive sentiments result in a single person moving to Milwaukee because of the campaign?
Assignment Desk, activate!
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Did the survey ask if the campaign resulted in bumps in negative sentiments about Wisconsin? Because I know quite a few folks who were annoyed as hell by its absurdities.
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Back to the airport:
“Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport ranked just below the average score for airport satisfaction in J.D. Power’s 2019 North American Airport Satisfaction Study,” the Milwaukee Business Journal reported in September.
Because J.D. Power measures big airports separately from medium-sized airports, it’s hard to compare Mitchell to O’Hare in this case. However, O’Hare obviously sucks in customer satisfaction.
Still . . .
“The Milwaukee airport is in the process of refreshing its food, beverage and retail options as it works to improve traveler satisfaction. Mitchell most recently opened a Starbucks and Cousins Subs in Concourse C.”
Yay?
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“In the mega airport category covering airports with 33 million or more passengers per year, the average score came in at 756. O’Hare International Airport in Chicago ranked below average with a score of 731. Los Angeles International Airport (726) and Newark Liberty International Airport (695) also fell below average.
“In the large airport category with 10 million to 32.9 million passengers per year, Chicago Midway International Airport was below the average of 765 with a score of 756.”
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And if you’re thinking of trying MKE for Christmas travel, well, again, O’Hare obviously sucks but . . .
“Advice to forget the destination and focus on the journey can ring hollow when your flight gets canceled. And it happens more frequently in Milwaukee than at many other airports across the country, according to a new survey,” Wisconsin Public Radio reported last April.
“[O]nly so much blame can be placed on unsafe weather. Heavy traffic volume nearly edged out Mother Nature as the cause of canceled flights at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.”
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“We are proud that the Milwaukee Mitchell Airport has the lowest cancellation rate of any major airport in Wisconsin or Illinois,” spokesperson Harold Mester said.
Wisconsin doesn’t have any other major airports, but okay!
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On The Other Hand . . .
“O’Hare International Airport flyers will be without the airport’s light rail system through at least the winter holidays – in yet another setback to a long-delayed construction project,” the Tribune reports.
“Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee announced Friday that upgrades to the popular ‘people mover’ now are not expected to be completed until early next year. She blamed an unspecified ‘mechanical issue discovered during on-track testing.'”
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The race is on: The O’Hare People Mover vs. The Navy Pier Flyover. Tonight, on Dick Wolf’s Chicago TBD.
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“Friday’s announcement was the third time the city has delayed the completion date for the project, which is now running more than a year behind schedule. The work has forced tens of thousands of passengers a day into a fleet of buses moving slowly through airport traffic, adding to the congestion the project was supposed to help alleviate.”
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While We’re At The Airport


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Chinese Chess
“O’Hare International Airport is feeling the impact of ongoing tensions between Washington and China,” Crain’s reports.
“Business travelers are walking away from East Asia routes to Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul and Hong Kong.
“U.S. and international carriers have cut flights from O’Hare to Beijing – as well as other Asian destinations such as Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong – by 19 percent compared to a year ago, according to data from air travel intelligence company OAG.”
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Here’s how airlines are adjusting:

“In Chicago, we are shifting our focus from connections across the Pacific to connections across the Atlantic,” said American Airlines spokeswoman Gianna Urgo.

“United Airlines announced in August that it will add year-around nonstop service to Zurich from O’Hare starting at the end of March. American Airlines also recently launched new service to Barcelona, Venice and Athens from Chicago and is starting new service to Eastern European cities like Prague and Budapest next summer, according to a statement. LOT Polish Airlines is also adding a new nonstop connection to Krakow.
“‘The only places that (the demand) is holding up would be Europe,’ said Smith from Tower Travel.”
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
Renaming Lake Shore Drive
We have some ideas.
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Top Trump Trade Guy’s Invented Fake Trade Expert
Claims he was merely using a “whimsical device” for his racist tomes.
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Lake Zurich Company Named Official Power Tool Of Minor League Baseball
Key components of the partnership include official and exclusive designations, ballpark activations, in-park ECHO product demonstrations and integration, and a sweepstakes.
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Hong Kong Phooey Was Sublime
And maybe racist, too, but still.
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ChicagoReddit

Lost keys from r/chicago


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ChicagoGram

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A post shared by Lo Wall (@lo.lines) on


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ChicagoTube
Sleater-Kinney at the Riv last Friday night.

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BeachBook
Women At Ernst & Young Instructed On How To Dress, Act Around Men.

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It’s Only $4.99. But Costco’s Rotisserie Chicken Comes At A Huge Price.

They’re more like $8.99 and up at the Jewels, depending.
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A Lot Of Fruit Drinks Don’t Contain Fruit.

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TweetWood
A sampling of the delight and disgust you can find @BeachwoodReport.


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Both national and geographic.

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Posted on October 22, 2019