Meet The Winners: Michael Garko

Michael Garko, network planning and scheduling analyst at Sun Country Airlines, tells Routes what it meant to win the Rising Star category at the Routes World Awards in Bahrain and recent air service successes for the airline.

Garko, who has held his position for over two years, has been a driving force behind the carrier’s growth, adding 30 new destinations and nearly 50 routes, including seven international services to four countries.

In his role, Garko’s efforts have optimized operations at Sun Country’s hub at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), making it the first and only U.S.-based ULCC with more than 100 nonstop destinations from a single airport.

His role has also included supporting new routes as part of Sun Country’s five-year charter service agreement with Major League Soccer (MLS) teams, launching flights to Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbus, Toronto, and Montreal.

Through data-driven analysis and schedule optimization, Garko’s initiatives have enhanced connectivity, achieving a 30% increase in connections in the final quarter of 2023.

"In just over two years, Michael has played an instrumental role in carefully and constructively expanding Sun Country’s network," said Sam MacDonald, at Sun Country Airlines. “His strategy vision, thorough market analysis, and studious understanding has been key to our ability to expand so quickly.”

The global network planning community recognized Garko’s achievements having voted him the winner of the Rising Star category at the Routes Awards in Bahrain. Following his success, Garko said: “It’s awesome to be recognized by your peers on a global stage. To be able to make an impact within my industry has been phenomenal but it’s truly a team effort so thank you to the whole Sun Country team for making this possible.”

At Routes World 2024, Garko highlighted the importance of building and maintaining airport relationships to support future growth. “Bahrain has been a great host, we’ve had extremely productive meetings with airports so it’s really helping us maintain relationships as well as build new ones with airports we’re prospecting for the future with potential services.”

In 2024, Sun Country Airlines flew more than 4.2 million passengers and set a record on July 21 with 147 scheduled flights carrying over 25,000 travelers in a single day. The airline’s success also earned it the title of Low-Cost Carrier of the Year at the CAPA Global Aviation Awards for Excellence.