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 that operates regional service under the name
Midwest Connect .
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, started on June 11, 1984. At the time the airline had two DC-9's and 83 employees.Midwest history exhibit at Mitchell Museum of Flight at the Milwaukee Airport
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 .''
Flight International '' 12-18 April 2005
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.
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In
2002 , 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 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
23 May 2006 , Midwest Airlines accepted one of the last two Boeing 717s delivered in a ceremony with
AirTran Airways , who accepted the other 717. With the closure of the assembly line in Long Beach, California, this marked the end of commercial 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
C-17 production ends.
Announced will also
Codeshare on Midwest Airlines-operated flights between
Milwaukee and
Kansas City to
Atlanta ,
Boston ,
Hartford ,
Los Angeles and
San Francisco that connect to the
Northwest /
KLM trans-Atlantic network and trans-Pacific network.
Midwest has won more awards for exceptional service in
Condé Nast Traveler magazine than any other U.S. airline.
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.
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On
August 12 ,
2007 , it was announced that AirTran had lost the bid for Midwest. A private equity group, headed by
TPG Capital and including
Northwest Airlines , had inquired to purchase Midwest and will turn the airline into a privately funded company. The inclusion of Northwest in the investing parters may lead to
Anti-trust accusations from the
United States Department Of Justice , which reviews all airline mergers. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=645803
On ,
2007 .
Midwest announces agreement with TPG (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: August 16, 2007)
Midwest Airlines'
Frequent Flyer Program is called . They maintain one
Airport Lounge , the '''Best Care Club''' at their Milwaukee hub in the D Concourse.
While Midwest is not a member of any
Airline Alliance , Midwest Miles may be redeemed in the
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 the Amtrak 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.
One of the most defining features of the airline are the
Chocolate Chip Cookies which are baked on the planes and served near the end of the flights. According to an exhibit on Midwest history at the
Mitchell Gallery Of Flight at the Mitchell Airport, the airline began serving the cookie after an executive experimented with the impact of smells on flights following a charter flight. Popcorn and pizza rolls did not make the cut.
The cookie is now featured in Midwest advertisements, used in Midwest's "savethecookie" campaign to stop the
AirTran takeover, and is served at professional baseball games at
Miller Park and
Kauffman Stadium , and also basketball and hockey games at Milwaukee's
Bradley Center .http://mymidwestmagazine.com/2007/05/01/welcome-2/
See Also: Midwest Airlines destinations
currently flies to 22 destinations throughout the
United States .
As of September 2007, the Midwest Airlines all-Boeing (including McDonnell-Douglas) fleet includes 37 aircraft:http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/Midwest%20Airlines.htm
As of September 2007, the average fleet age of Midwest Airlines was 10 years old. http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/Midwest%20Airlines.htm
- On 6 September 1985 , Midwest Express Flight 105 crashed upon takeoff from Milwaukee. This is Midwest's first (and, as of 2007 , 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.
At the beginning of Midwest's life, they flew only
DC-9 s 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.
Midwest Express Airlines DC-9-30 in startup livery on Airliners.net
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.
Midwest Express Airlines DC-9-10 in intermediate colors on Airliners.net
In
2003 , Midwest Express Airlines began to create a new identity, as the first
Boeing 717 s 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. An error, however, occurred in the painting of the livery in 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, registered N813ME (and two more to join the fleet in 2007). All other remaining
MD-80 s have a sort of hybrid livery, combining the lighter blue, light gray engines/belly and stripes of the old Midwest Express livery with the current logo and titling of Midwest Airlines.
Midwest Airlines 717 in "Calatrava" livery on Airliners.net
