Muskegon County's good fortune to not only retain Midwest Connect commercial airline service to Milwaukee but also to upgrade to jets comes amid major changes with the airline.

The biggest change: The switch from a unionized air service to a nonunion airline.

Midwest Air -- the parent company of both Midwest Airlines and its commuter service Midwest Connect in Milwaukee -- has hired Utah-based SkyWest Airlines Inc. to operate the regional flights of Midwest Connect.

Midwest Connect had been operated by Midwest Air subsidiary Skyway Airlines, but that company posted losses of $9.6 million last year.

The move to SkyWest, to be completed in early April, will bring the elimination of 400 employees in the Milwaukee-based Midwest Connect operations and throughout Midwest Connect offices such as in Muskegon.

SkyWest is a nonunion company whereas Skyway pilots and flight attendants are represented by a union.

Muskegon County will receive two daily jet flights to Milwaukee's General Mitchell Airport on 50-seat regional jets beginning April 6 as Midwest eliminates its 19-seat turbo-prop flights.

Muskegon currently has three turbo-prop flights on Midwest Connect to Milwaukee. The local airport had a Northwest Airlink jet flight in 2004 but that six-month market test was unsuccessful.

Muskegon County Airport officials were aware of the changes coming at Midwest Air but airport Manager Marty Piette said local officials were unaware as to how it would affect local flights. Some communities lost service in the transition, Piette said.

"We were in limbo, knowing they would swap out to jets but we didn't have jet service," Piette said. "This could have gone the other way."

Fortunately for Muskegon and its business community, Midwest Air had faith in the local commercial air market, said Cindy Larsen, president of the Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce. The Midwest Connect changes come while a chamber committee is studying the airport's importance for the future of the Muskegon economy.

"This is a major move in the right direction," Larsen said of the jet service announcement. "This will allow the airport to better service the business community."

How the Muskegon County Airport will continue to serve the business community has been the focus of a special chamber committee studying the economic affect of the airport on Muskegon. A group of those in the aerospace industry, local air service providers, tenants in the Muskegon County Airport Business Park and private pilots have been working on an airport "white paper" for the past four months.

The chamber committee is expected to provide the Muskegon County Board of Commissioners with recommendations in the next two months, Larsen said. Part of the committee's work has been conducting a survey of local business leaders on their needs and use of the airport.

Technology in the aerospace industry is moving toward "mini-jets" that allow companies to lease or partly own aircraft that provide more flexible travel schedules not tied to the commercial airline industry.

"We are finding that there will be tremendous changes in the industry," Larsen said. "The jet service decision shows us that we have to keep ahead of those changes. It is not business as usual in the airline industry today."