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Midwest Airlines

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Midwest Airlines
IATA ICAO Call sign
YX MEP MidEx
Founded1984
HubsGeneral Mitchell International Airport
Focus citiesKansas City International Airport
Frequent-flyer programMidwest Miles
Fleet size35
Destinations24
Parent companyMidwest Air Group
HeadquartersMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Key peopleTimothy E. Hoeksama, Chairman/President/CEO
Websitehttp://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

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.

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 profitablility. 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.

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 '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, 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 twelve cities across the country.

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 FAA reports, the crash was caused by failure of the plane's right engine, due to engine fatigue. The engine failure caused the plane to stall during take off. 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.

Fleet

Midwest Airlines as an all-Boeing (including McDonnell Douglas planes) fleet.

Aircraft # Seats Notes
Boeing 717 25 88C Signature Service (business class)
McDonnell Douglas MD-88 2 143Y all coach service
McDonnel Douglas MD-81/MD-82 11 147Y
116C
74F		 all coach service
Signature Service
Charter Service

Awards

  • Rated the best domestic airline by Travel + Leisure seven times. [1]

Destinations

United States

Canada

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