This article is about the regional airline based in Wichita, KS. For the article regarding the renamed Midwest Express, see Midwest Airlines .
is a FAA Part 121 certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number AMWA510A issued on May 15, 1965. It is headquartered in
Wichita ,
Kansas and is a subsidiary of
Mesa Air Group . It operates flights as
US Airways Express , including a
Code Share with
Midwest Airlines , and as
Mesa Airlines . It serves 42 cities in 15 states.
Air Midwest was founded in Wichita, Kansas in May 1965 by Gary Adamson as Aviation Services, Inc. Using a single Cessna 206, Adamson transported human remains for area mortuaries. Later, Aviation Services held out for charter and in 1967 began scheduled service flying between Wichita and Salina.
As
Frontier Airlines withdrew from the western Kansas market in 1968, Aviation Services moved in to assume air service. In 1969, it changed its name to Air Midwest and ordered Beech 99 aircraft to keep up with its expansion.
By 1978, it was operating a fleet of 10 Metroliners and was expanding from Kansas and into New Mexico, Iowa, and Nebraska.
In 1985, Air Midwest merged with
Scheduled Skyways , a Fayetteville, Arkansas based air carrier, in hopes of gaining a codeshare to feed
Republic Airlines ' Memphis hub. It seemed like a good merger for Air Midwest: Air Midwest would expand by acquiring routes in Arkansas to complement its existing routes in the midwest. Both carriers operated Metros, and Air Midwest had an opportunity to win a codeshare with Republic.
Unfortunately, Republic picked a different air carrier to feed its Memphis hub. Air Midwest discovered many hidden problems with the badly neglected aircraft of Scheduled Skyways, that forced it to perform the required maintenance to keep the aircraft flying. The next few years after the merger with Scheduled Skyways pushed Air Midwest to the verge of bankruptcy.
Although Air Midwest was unsuccessful in gaining a codeshare with Republic through the Scheduled Skyways merger, it was able to acquire codeshare agreements with Ozark Airlines as Ozark Midwest, Eastern Airlines as Eastern Air Midwest Express, and American Airlines as American Eagle in 1985.
Continuing money problems forced Air Midwest to sell its Nashville hub and Saab 340 aircraft to American in 1987. TWA acquired Ozark in 1986 and forced Air Midwest to surrender some of its St Louis routes because TWA already had a code share partner in St Louis, ResortAir (today's TransStates Airlines).
Eastern abruptly pulled out of Kansas City leaving Air Midwest no one to feed. Air Midwest quickly negotiated a codeshare agreement with Braniff, just in time for Braniff to go bankrupt.
In 1990, Air Midwest negotiated a codeshare agreement with USAir. On
July 12 ,
1991 Air Midwest published a message to all employees, "St. Louis hub sold to TransStates, all else to Mesa."
From 1991 until 1997, Air Midwest operated 12 Beechcraft 1900s flying from its Kansas City hub as USAir Express. In 1997, Mesa Air Group underwent a corporate reorganization: Mesa Airline's FloridaGulf, Liberty Express, and Independent divisions were merged into Air Midwest.
Today, Air Midwest operates services for
Essential Air Service and also has aircraft operating as
US Airways Express under an agreement with
US Airways in
Phoenix and . Air Midwest also operates as US Airways Express from a hub in
Kansas City , with smaller operations at
Phoenix ,
Charlotte ,
Chicago Midway Airport ,
Dallas and
Omaha, Nebraska . There are currently 20 airplanes in service, down from a height of 118.
On
January 8 ,
2003 , Air Midwest had its first fatal accident when
Air Midwest Flight 5481 departing out of Charlotte for Greenville-Spartanburg crashed 37 seconds after takeoff. All 19 passengers and two crewmembers were killed in the accident.
For a period of three weeks in August 2006, Air Midwest operated as
Delta Connection , flying three Beechcraft 1900D from John F. Kennedy Airport to
Providence, RI and
Windsor Locks, Connecticut , as a stop-gap measure for
Freedom Airlines , another subsidiary of
Mesa Air Group , until it was relieved by
Chautauqua Airlines .
On February 1, 2007, Air Midwest began operations at ,
Marion , and
Quincy .
See Also: Air Midwest destinations
Currently, serves 42 cities in 15 states.
Air Midwest operates as:
- Air Midwest Flight 5481 - a Beechcraft 1900D operated by Air Midwest as US Airways Express under a franchise agreement, crashed into an airport hangar and burst into flames 37 seconds after leaving Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina for Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina on January 8 , 2003 . All 19 passengers and 2 pilots aboard were killed in the accident.
- Air Midwest Flight 655 - On April 11 , 2007 , Flight 655, a Beechcraft 1900D , registration N135YV, from Chicago Midway Airport to Decatur, Illinois experienced a prop strike during pushback for departure at Chicago Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois . The left engine was started during the pushback when the left propeller came in contact with the towbar and disintegrated. No injuries resulted from the incident.
As of June, 2007 Air Midwest has 20 aircraft in its fleet consisting of:
Previous aircraft operated by Air Midwest include the
Cessna 402 ,
Beech 99 ,
Metroliner ,
Jetstream 31 and the
Saab 340 .
applies to Mesa Airlines flights that are operated by Air Midwest. It consists of a card, upon which flights are recorded with a stamp. Once 16 stamps have been recorded, the card may be redeemed for a single round-trip ticket on Mesa Airlines flights.
