Midwest Airlines

Midwest Airlines

IATA ICAO Call sign YX MEP MIDEX
Founded	1984
Hubs	General Mitchell International Airport
Focus cities	Kansas City International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Midwest Miles
Fleet size	35
Destinations	24
Parent company	Midwest Air Group
Headquarters	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Key people	Timothy E. Hoeksema, Chairman/President/CEO
Website	http://www.midwestairlines.com

File:Midwest.arp.750pix.jpg

Midwest Airlines Boeing 717 taxiing for departure at John Wayne Airport (Santa Ana, California, USA) in February 2004

For the Egyptian airline see: Midwest Airlines (Egypt)

Midwest Airlines is an American scheduled passenger airline based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operating from General Mitchell International Airport. Midwest Airlines is largely known for its Signature Service all business class seating arrangement, which includes leather seats arranged 2-by-2 and fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. This product is available on Boeing 717 aircraft.

Skyway Airlines is a sister airline also owned by Midwest Air Group that operates regional service under the name Midwest Connect.

History

Midwest Airlines began life in 1948, when Kimberly-Clark Corporation began providing air transportation for company executives and engineers between the company's Appleton headquarters and their mills.

In 1969, K-C Aviation was born from this, and was dedicated to the maintenance of corporate aircraft. After the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Kimberly-Clark and K-C Aviation decided to form a regular scheduled passenger airline, and out of that initiative, Midwest Express was started in 1984.

The airline slowly grew by adding Douglas DC-9 aircraft to its fleet. Eventually, Midwest Express served most major Midwestern and Eastern destinations. Their longtime slogan, The Best Care in the Air, represents their inflight product. For many years, all flights featured 2-by-2 leather seating, ample legroom, and inflight meals and cookies. This made the airline popular with business travelers. In addition, Midwest Express operated a sizable executive charter operation with a specially-configured DC-9.

In the 1990s, Midwest Express began adding McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft to their fleet. The airline experienced steady growth along with continued profitability. Midwest Express also started their own regional subsidiary, Skyway Airlines, The Midwest Express Connection, to provide commuter airline service to small communities in Wisconsin and the surrounding region. Kimberley-Clark relinquished its ownership in two initial public offerings on 22 September 1995 and 8 May 1996 .

After fourteen years of profit-making, Midwest Express was affected with serious financial problems after the September 11 Terrorist Attacks. To return to profitability, the airline made major changes to its product. First, they reconfigured some MD-80 series aircraft into a new 'Saver Service', featuring cloth coach seats in a 2-by-3 arrangement. Saver Service, while decreasing the width of the seats, continues to feature ample legroom. This service is offered from their Milwaukee and Kansas City hubs to leisure destinations such as Florida, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix on McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft. The airline's Signature Service was also affected by the financial difficulties. The signature gourmet meal services, which had been served on china after being cooked onboard, were discontinued in 2002.

In 2003, the airline made another major change, shortening its name from Midwest Express to simply Midwest. A major reason for the change was the modern association of 'express' with a regional airline, which Midwest was not. At the same time, Midwest's commuter airline subsidiary changed its name from Skyway Airlines, the Midwest Express Connection, to Midwest Connect. In a move to save money on jet fuel, the airline accelerated the replacement of DC-9 aircraft with the Boeing 717. It was also announced that select MD-80 aircraft would leave the fleet.

In May 2005, Midwest announced a new buy-on-board meal service for customers. The new program is a step up from the previous 'In-flight Cafe' and features chefs and inspiration from the renowned Mader's restaurant. They also bake chocolate chip cookies on the plane and serve them warm.

Midwest has become the longstanding largest operation at Mitchell Airport and serves 21 cities non-stop (serving San Antonio only through Kansas City), while their regional partner Skyway Airlines, operating as Midwest Connect, serves nearly 30 destinations throughout the Central United States. Since the late 1990s, Midwest has built a focus city at Kansas City International Airport, where they presently operate nonstop service to 13 cities across the country.

On May 23, 2006, Midwest Airlines accepted one of the last two Boeing 717s delivered in a ceremony with AirTran, who accepted the other 717. With the closure of the assembly line in Long Beach, California, this marks the end of commerical aircraft final assembly in California and the closure of the former Douglas commercial jet assembly facility. Large military jets are still produced in Long Beach, but it is expected to end in a few years when the C-17 production ends.

On January 3, 2007, at Duluth International Airport, Midwest Connect announced it will launch nonstop service between Duluth/Superior and Milwaukee on March 4. The airline will offer two nonstop roundtrip flights each weekday and a total of three roundtrips on weekends. Duluth/Superior will be the 48th destination on Midwest's nationwide route network.

On January 23, 2007, Midwest announced Boeing 717 Signature Service nonstop service from Kansas City, Missouri, and through-plane/one-stop service from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Seattle/ Tacoma, Washington, effective April 1, 2007.

Midwest has won more awards for exceptional service in Condé Nast Traveler magazine than any other U.S. airline. This is due to the focus on the customer and the superior product that Midwest has in the marketplace.

In December 2006, AirTran Holdings Inc. -- owner of AirTran Airways -- made public that in December 2005 it had approached the Board of Directors of Midwest Air Group -- owner of Midwest Airlines and Midwest Connect -- and had asked the board negotiate a sale of the company. That AirTran offer in 2005 was rebuffed by Midwest's board, which also rebuffed a second offer in late 2006. In December 2006, AirTran disclosed the rejection of both offers in hopes of bringing shareholder pressure on Midwest's board to reconsider, which the board recommended that shareholders reject.

On January 11, 2007, AirTran sweetened its offer for Midwest Airlines to $13.25 a share from $11.25 a share and AirTran took its renewed bid directly to Midwest shareholders, bypassing Midwest's board of directors. The offer expires on March 8, 2007.

In response to AirTran's overtures, Midwest Air Group has stated publicly that it believes that it can maximize shareholder value as a stand-alone company. Midwest Air Group has said that the latest AirTran Airways proposal rejected by its board of directors significantly undervalued Midwest and did not reflect the long-term opportunity inherent in its strategic growth plan. The company also has reiterated that its strategic business plan will offer superior value to shareholders by capitalizing on current industry conditions while remaining true to Midwest's commitment to customer service excellence.

In early 2007, Midwest has announced the initial components of its long-term growth plan, which is designed to increase capacity 15% in 2007 (averaging 10% per year over the next three years) and provide improving levels of profitability while further enhancing service to its customers.

2007 initiatives include:

• An agreement with SkyWest Airlines, Inc. to operate 50-seat regional jet service from Milwaukee and Kansas City beginning in April 2007. Flying as Midwest Connect, the SkyWest jets will allow Midwest to add new destinations, increase frequency on existing routes and upgrade several regional routes to all-jet service.
• The addition of two MD-80 series aircraft to the Midwest Airlines fleet expected to go into revenue service by mid-2007, and one Fairchild 328JET 32-seat regional jet to the Skyway fleet which went into service on February 2, 2007.
• Reconfiguration later in 2007 of Midwest Airlines Saver Service aircraft -- which feature two-by-three seating on flights to leisure destinations -- to add several rows of the airline's two-by-two Signature Service seats to further differentiate Midwest's product in the marketplace.

According to Midwest, the expansion plans are slated to result in the addition of at least six new destinations and as many as 12 new routes in 2007, as well as an increase in employment of approximately 8% throughout the year - not including SkyWest staffing to operate the 50-seat regional jet program.

Longer term, Midwest says that it is conducting a strategic review of other significant value-enhancing opportunities -- including replacement of its MD-80 fleet and additional interior reconfiguration of its aircraft.

Destinations

Main article: Midwest Airlines destinations

Midwest Airlines currently flies to 23 destinations throughout the United States. Upcoming schedule changes include the addition of service to Seattle, Washington, and the discontinuation of service to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which transfers to Midwest Connect service, on April 1, 2007. These changes which will keep Midwest's destination count at 23.

Fleet

As of January 2007, the Midwest Airlines fleet includes  :

Midwest Airlines Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Economy)	Routes	Notes
Boeing 717-200	25	88 (88)	Domestic	Signature service
McDonnell Douglas MD-81/82	7	147 (147)	Domestic	Saver service
McDonnell Douglas MD-81	1	116 (116)	Domestic	Signature service
McDonnell Douglas MD-81	2	74 (74)	Domestic	Charter Signature service
McDonnell Douglas MD-88	2	143 (143)	Domestic	Saver service

As of January 2007, the average fleet age of Midwest Airlines was 8.8 years old.

Midwest Miles

Midwest Airlines' frequent flyer program is called Midwest Miles. They maintain one airport lounge, the Best Care Club at their Milwaukee hub.

While Midwest is not a member of any airline alliance, Midwest Miles may be redeemed in Northwest Airlines' WorldPerks program, and vice versa. As of 2006, Northwest route maps show Midwest as a partner airline as Northwest is pulling its non-hub flights out of Milwaukee.

Midwest Miles is unusual in that it has links to Amtrak's program. Midwest Miles members may transfer lots of 5,000 miles, up to a maximum of 25,000 miles per year to Amtrak's program. Amtrak points can be used for travel on Amtrak and Continental Airlines.

Incidents and accidents

• On 6 September 1985, Midwest Express Flight 105 crashed upon takeoff from Milwaukee. This is Midwest's first (and, as of 2006, only) fatal accident, when a Douglas DC-9 of the airline crashed while taking off from Milwaukee, bound for Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. According to NTSB reports, the crash was caused by improper pilot reaction when the plane's right engine failed due to stress corrosion cracking. The improper flight control inputs caused an uncommanded roll and accelerated stall. The 31 people on board died.

• On 20 December, 2005, Midwest Airlines Flight 210, a Boeing 717, experienced an issue with its landing gear while taking off from Logan International Airport. The aircraft, originally bound for Milwaukee, circled the airport for about two hours to burn off its surplus fuel. Ultimately, the aircraft returned to Boston Logan Airport and landed safely with only a few sparks trailing from the right main landing gear. The cause of the failure was a faulty wheel bearing in the aircraft delivered by Boeing only a month earlier.

Livery

Closeup of the engine and tail of a Midwest 717, illustrating the updated logo and gold rings on the engine.

At the beginning of Midwest's life, they flew only DC-9s of the -10 and -30 series. These planes were painted in a dark blue on the upper half, and white on the lower half. The two were separated by two white , a blue , and a red cheatline, which ran up the trailing edge of the tail. The engines were white, and on the tail was a bold 'M' and a script 'E', representing Midwest Express, and the way the titles were printed. This scheme can still be found on one Beech 1900D of Midwest Connect, sans the 'M E' on the tail.

In the early 1990s, the airline started to add DC-9-80, more commonly known as the MD-80 or "Super 80", aircraft to their fleet, initially in the same livery. It wasn't until the mid-90s that they changed the paint scheme. The top half of the aircraft remained blue, but the bottom half was repainted grey, along with the engines, and they were now separated by a gold, white, and red cheatline. The tail logo also took minor changes, adding a circle around the lettering and a gold, white, and red stripe from the circle to the leading edge of the tail. Despite the unchanged lettering on the tail, the titles on the fuselage were changed to all bold letters, rather than the script "Express" titles.

In 2003, Midwest Express Airlines began to create a new identity, as the first Boeing 717s were being delivered, and the DC-9 aircraft were being retired. They started with chopping the "Express" out of their name (and thusly, off of the fuselage), and they designed a new logo which would help point them out as a representative of Milwaukee. The result was a logo that looks much like a wing, with a small 'M' inside of it. However, if the logo is turned on its side, it bears a resemblance to the Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by Santiago Calatrava, which was being constructed at the same time. The Art Museum has risen out as an icon of Milwaukee, and so the new Midwest Airlines felt this would be a good representation. Along with this new identity came a new livery. The bottom of the aircraft remained grey, while the top were repainted in a lighter, deeper blue, with essentially the same gold, white, and red cheatlines separating the two. On the lower half, there was also a blue swoop, starting at the front (looking much like another stripe), getting larger as it goes back, until it covers the whole tail section. The engines on these planes were painted in the same blue color, with 4 gold rings on the port engine, and 3 on the starboard. This was meant to represent the ranking of Captain and First Officer, along with where they sit. This design, however, was messed up during the painting process of the first aircraft. Boeing misunderstood the livery, and N902ME was delivered with 4 rings on both engines. The aircraft remains that way today. All other 717s delivered were painted correctly, along with one MD-80, before the decision was made to sell off the type.

External links

• Midwest Airlines homepage
• Midwest Airlines Fleet Age
• Corporate Blog "Travels with Tish -- Girlfriends' Getaway Guide
• Flyertalk