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 Cookie s. This product is available on Boeing 717 aircraft.
Skyway Airlines is a sister airline also owned by
Midwest Air Group .
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 , 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 1990's, 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 and freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. This service is offered from their Milwaukee hub 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 , 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 1990's, Midwest has built a focus city at
Kansas City International Airport , where they presently operate nonstop service to nine cities across the country.
With delivery of new aircraft in late 2005, Midwest hopes to build up the current route structure and return to San Diego via Kansas City. This flight will connect with another into Pittsburgh beginning in October.
- 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.
Midwest Airlines as an all-
Boeing (including
McDonnell Douglas planes) fleet.
