Midwest Airlines
| Midwest Airlines | |
|---|---|
|
|
| IATA code : | YX |
| ICAO code : | MEP |
| Call sign : | MIDEX |
| Founding: | 1948 |
| Operation stopped: | 2010 |
| Seat: |
Milwaukee , United States
|
| Home airport : | Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport , Kansas City International Airport |
| Frequent Flyer Program : | Midwest Miles |
| Fleet size: | 45 |
| Aims: | National and international |
| Midwest Airlines ceased operations in 2010. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Midwest Airlines was an American airline based in Milwaukee , Wisconsin and a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings .
history
Midwest Airlines was founded in 1948 to save time transporting the representatives and engineers of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation between the company's headquarters and its factories. In 1969 this service was christened KC Aviation , and an in-house maintenance workshop was also established.
After the Airline Deregulation Act 1978, Kimberly-Clark and KC Avitation decided to found a real airline for civil scheduled flights from this flight service, which was only implemented in 1984 with the Midwest Express company . The airline grew slowly with the addition of Douglas DC-9 aircraft; after all, Midwest Express served most of the major destinations in the east and midwest of the United States .
Even then, the flights were advertised with the comfortable 2 + 2 leather seating arrangement, the large legroom and the freshly prepared meals on board. The company's slogan was "The Best Care in the Air"; this service made the airline particularly popular among business travelers. In addition to the scheduled flights, Midwest Express also began to take up exclusive charter flights with a specially equipped DC-9.
From the 90s the fleet was again expanded by buying McDonnell Douglas DC-9-80 (MD-80) . Thus, the company continued to grow steadily without losing profitability. At this time, a subsidiary, Skyway Airlines, was founded . It should act as a regional airline and also operate feeder flights from small communities in Wisconsin and the surrounding area under the name Midwest Express Connection .
After fourteen years of profitability, Midwest Express faced financial problems because of the aftermath of September 11, 2001 . In order to break even again, the airline rebuilt its product; For example, the MD-80 was reconfigured by swapping the leather seats for fabric seats and switching to a 2 + 3 seat arrangement, and the on-board meal was abolished in 2002.
In 2003, the company was renamed Midwest Express to Midwest , which is particularly due to the fact that "express" was associated with a regionally operating airline in the USA, which Midwest was not. At the same time, Skyway Airlines was also renamed Midwest Connect . In order to save further costs, the first major fleet renewal began by replacing the older DC-9 with new and more economical Boeing 717s ; the DC-9-80 should also leave the company soon. In May 2005, Midwest announced a new meal service on flights: an upgraded “in-flight cafe” includes freshly baked chocolate cookies. On May 23, 2006, Midwest Airlines took delivery of one of the last two Boeing 717s to be delivered.
In late August 2007, the Midwest Air Group, which controlled Midwest Airlines and Midwest Express, accepted a joint takeover offer from TPG ( Texas Pacific Group ) and Northwest Airlines for $ 450 million.
On June 23, 2009 Republic Airways Holdings announced that it was acquiring Midwest Airlines for $ 31 million.
In spring 2010 it was announced that Midwest would be dissolved as a brand and merged with another subsidiary of the owner Republic Airways Holdings, Frontier Airlines .
fleet
(As of January 2009)
| Aircraft type | Total | Passengers (Signature / Saver) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Embraer 190 | 25th | 99 (11/88) | Operated by Republic Airline |
| Embraer 170 | 15th | 76 (0/76) | Operated by Republic Airline |
| Airbus A319-100 | 5 | 136 (0/136) | Operated by Frontier Airlines |
Incidents
- On September 6, 1985, a Douglas DC-9 crashed on Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 from Milwaukee to Atlanta shortly after taking off from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport due to an engine failure and the following pilot error. All 27 passengers and 4 crew members were killed.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Report on the last delivery of a Boeing 717 to Midwest Airlines
- ↑ aerosecure.de: Midwest takeover battle
- ↑ jsonline.com - New name for Midwest-Frontier airline: Frontier (English) April 13, 2010.