K-C Aviation Midwest Airlines began in 1948, when
Kimberly-Clark began providing air transportation for company executives and engineers between the company's
Neenah, Wisconsin headquarters and its mills. Operating out of the nearby
Appleton International Airport, early employee shuttle destinations included Chicago O'Hare, Memphis, and Atlanta's Fulton County Airport. In 1969, K-C Aviation was born from this, and was dedicated to the maintenance of corporate aircraft. K-C Aviation was sold in 1998 to
Gulfstream Aerospace for $250 million; included were its operations in Appleton, Dallas, and
Westfield, Massachusetts.
Midwest Express Airlines After the
Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Kimberly-Clark and K-C Aviation decided to form a regularly scheduled passenger airline, and Midwest Express Airlines began operations on June 11, 1984. At the time the airline had two
Douglas DC-9-10 twin-engine jets and 83 employees. Early plans for the airline called for it to serve Appleton, Chicago, and Atlanta. Kimberly-Clark then opted against this plan with regard to the Atlanta service after local resistance over the carrier's desire to serve Atlanta's
Fulton County Airport, which is a general aviation airport located on the city's west side. From 1983 to 1985, the airline also operated a single
Convair 580 twin-turboprop aircraft provided by Kimberly-Clark's corporate aviation department on corporate shuttle flights for Kimberly-Clark. The airline slowly grew, adding additional DC-9 aircraft to its fleet, including larger
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets, with a total of 24 by the end of 1996. Eventually, Midwest Express Airlines served most major Midwestern and East Coast destinations. Its longtime slogan, "The Best Care in the Air", represented its inflight product. For many years, all flights featured 2-by-2 leather seating (in aircraft usually fitted with 3-2 seating), ample legroom, complimentary gourmet meals, and warm chocolate chip 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 1999 In 1989, Midwest Express added two
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft to its fleet, acquiring eleven additional aircraft between 1998 and 2001. These enabled the airline to expand services to the West Coast and Florida. 1989 also saw the addition of
commuter airline feeder services operated by
Skyway Airlines. Skyway was a division of
Mesa Airlines using
Beechcraft 1900 aircraft providing service to small communities in Wisconsin and the surrounding region. Midwest Express experienced steady growth and continued profitability, opening an additional hub in
Omaha, Nebraska in early 1995. In 1994 Midwest Express established Astral Aviation to take over the operation of Skyway Airlines, dba Midwest Express Connection and
Fairchild Dornier 328JETs were added in 1999. Kimberly-Clark relinquished its ownership in two initial public offerings on September 22, 1995, and May 8, 1996. The airline's new parent company,
Midwest Air Group, traded on the
American Stock Exchange under the
ticker symbol "MEH." Midwest Express Airlines also added Midwest Vacations in the 1990s, naming GOGO Worldwide Vacations as the original partner to provide hotel service and later partnering with
Mark Travel. In 1997, according to the Midwest Express timetable, the airline was
code sharing with
Virgin Atlantic Airways for flights between London
Heathrow Airport and Milwaukee and Kansas City with passengers connecting between the two air carriers in Boston. After fourteen years of profit-making, Midwest Express Airlines was affected with serious financial problems after the
September 11 terrorist attacks. To return to profitability, the airline made major changes. The Omaha hub was reduced to a focus city in early 2002, with hub status transferred to
Kansas City. Some MD-80 series aircraft were reconfigured into a new "Saver Service", featuring cloth coach seats in a 2-by-3 arrangement. Saver Service, while decreasing the width of the seats, continued to feature ample legroom. This service was initially offered from the 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 financial difficulties. The signature gourmet meal services, which had been served on china after being cooked on board, were discontinued in 2002 and replaced with a buy-on-board product.
Midwest Express Airlines destinations in 1984 Midwest Express was serving the following destinations in October 1984: •
Appleton, WI (ATW) •
Boston, MA (BOS) •
Dallas/
Fort Worth, TX (DFW) •
Newark, NJ (EWR) •
Milwaukee, WI (MKE) – hub & airline headquarters By 1985,
Atlanta (ATL) had been added to the route system with service to Newark being discontinued at this time and by 1986 flights had been begun to
Madison, Wisconsin (MSN),
New York City LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and
Washington, D.C. National Airport (DCA). All service was flown nonstop between Milwaukee and these destinations, with the exception of a nonstop route between Appleton and Newark in 1984 that had been discontinued by 1985.
Midwest Express Airlines destinations in 2001 The airline was serving the following destinations in June 2001: •
Appleton, WI (ATW) •
Atlanta, GA (ATL) •
Boston, MA (BOS) •
Cleveland, OH (CLE) •
Columbus, OH (CMH) •
Dallas/
Fort Worth, TX (DFW) •
Denver, CO (DEN) •
Des Moines, IA (DSM) •
Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) –
seasonal service •
Fort Myers, FL (RSW) –
seasonal service •
Hartford, CT (BDL) •
Kansas City, MO (MCI) – focus city •
Las Vegas, NV (LAS) •
Los Angeles (
LAX) •
Madison, WI (MSN) •
Milwaukee, WI (MKE) – primary hub & airline headquarters •
Newark, NJ (EWR) •
New Orleans, LA (MSY) •
New York City, NY –
LaGuardia Airport (LGA) •
Omaha, NE (OMA) – secondary hub •
Orlando, FL (MCO) •
Philadelphia, PA (PHL) •
Raleigh/
Durham, NC (RDU) •
San Antonio, TX (SAT) •
San Francisco, CA (
SFO) –
seasonal service •
Tampa, FL (TPA) –
seasonal service •
Washington, D.C. –
Dulles International Airport (IAD) • Washington, D.C. –
Reagan National Airport (DCA) In early 2002 Kansas City became a secondary hub for the airline while Omaha was reduced to a focus city.
Midwest Airlines Fairchild Dornier 328JET painted in the colors of Midwest Connect at
General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, WI.
Skyway Airlines aircraft operated under contract to Midwest. In 2002, the airline made another major change, shortening its name from Midwest Express Airlines to simply Midwest Airlines. 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 717-200. On May 23, 2006, Midwest Airlines accepted one of the last two Boeing 717s delivered in a ceremony with
AirTran Airways, who accepted the other 717. Midwest also announced that selected MD-80 aircraft would leave the fleet. In May 2005, Midwest announced a new buy-on-board meal service for customers. The new program was a change from the previous 'In-flight Cafe' and featured chefs and inspiration from the renowned Mader's restaurant. Chocolate chip cookies continued to be baked on the plane and served warm. Midwest became the largest longstanding operation at Mitchell Airport and served 21 cities nonstop (
San Antonio (SAT) as well as
Orange County, CA (SNA) were served from Milwaukee with one stop flights via Kansas City in 2005), while its regional partner
Skyway Airlines, operating as
Midwest Connect, served nearly 30 destinations throughout the Central United States. In 2006, a second regional airline,
SkyWest Airlines, began providing feeder service as Midwest Connect along with Skyway. SkyWest flew
Bombardier CRJ100/200 regional jets. Skyway was later shut down in 2008 and service to many of the smaller cities served with Beech 1900's had ended. On May 17, 2007, Midwest Airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
Northwest Airlines to form a codeshare agreement with them. The codeshare agreement added 250 city pairs and 1,000 new flight options for Midwest Airlines customers. Northwest routes that included the Midwest Airlines YX code were destinations beyond Northwest's hubs at
Detroit,
Minneapolis/St. Paul and
Memphis throughout the United States and Canada. Midwest placed its code on Northwest flights from
Indianapolis, then a Northwest focus city, as well as a number of Northwest-operated flights to
Hawaii and
Alaska. Routes operated by Midwest Airlines that carried the NW
Northwest code were flights that connected at Midwest's
Milwaukee and
Kansas City hubs, as well as
Omaha, a Midwest focus city.
Northwest also
code shared on Midwest Airlines-operated flights between Milwaukee and Kansas City to
Atlanta,
Boston,
Hartford,
Los Angeles and
San Francisco that connected to the
Northwest/
KLM trans-Atlantic network and trans-Pacific network. Midwest won more awards for exceptional service in
Condé Nast Traveler magazine than any other U.S. airline, although it won no further awards from the magazine after ceasing to be an independent company.
Signature and Saver service added On May 29, 2007, Midwest announced the next phase of the company's strategic plan, which offered customers the choice of Signature and Saver seating on all flights. The dual-seating option, replacing the original 88-seat configuration, was available on the airline's Boeing 717s until their retirement. The same amenities were provided to all passengers in either cabin, including leather seats. The new configuration consisted of 40 Signature leather seats, arranged in 10 rows of two-by-two, offering a 36" pitch and providing 2 to 3 more inches of leg room than the previous Signature seating, and 59 Saver seats arranged two-by-three which the company claimed were among the roomiest coach seats in the industry. The company projected that the implementation of seating choices would generate $30–35 million in annualized revenue.
Acquisition by TPG 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 to 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. 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, purchased Midwest and turned the airline into a privately funded company. The inclusion of Northwest in the investing partners required
anti-trust review from the
United States Department of Justice, which reviews all airline mergers. On August 14, 2007, AirTran increased its offer to the equivalent of $16.25 a share, slightly more than the $16 a share from TPG Capital investors group. However, Midwest announced TPG would increase its offer to $17 per share and a definitive agreement had been reached late on August 16, 2007. On August 17, 2007, TPG and Northwest Airlines finalized their bid for Midwest with the final offer of $17 per share and a total deal of $450 million. On February 1, 2008, Midwest Air Group announced that the US Department of Justice had cleared the acquisition of Midwest by TPG Capital and Northwest. This finalized the acquisition; trading of Midwest Air Group on the American Stock Exchange ceased at the end of the trading day on January 31, 2008, and stockholders in Midwest received the agreed-upon $17 per share. This ended the independent existence of Midwest Airlines. In accordance with the rest of the
airline industry during the
oil price increases since 2003, Midwest Airlines was forced to cut back services. To do this, Midwest Airlines announced its intent to retire the 12 remaining
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jets in its fleet. According to the company, the MD-80 was "a very fuel inefficient airplane and at the cost of fuel today it's just become economically infeasible to operate these planes." The MD-80s, and the crews that operated them, left Midwest in late 2008. In April 2007,
SkyWest Airlines began operating flights under the
Midwest Connect brand alongside in-house subsidiary
Skyway Airlines. Skyway shut down one year later, leaving SkyWest as Midwest's sole regional contractor. Midwest failed to pay a $3.3 million receivable that was due to SkyWest in June, 2008, forcing them to record a full reserve and corresponding reduction in revenue during the second quarter of that year. Additional changes were announced on September 3, 2008, when the airline announced that it had raised $60 million from TPG, Northwest Airlines, and
Republic Airways Holdings. As part of the
outsourcing deal,
Republic Airline operated 12
Embraer 170 aircraft under the Midwest Airlines brand, though Midwest had the option to convert the aircraft into a long-term lease and operate them directly. The airline also reached an agreement with
Boeing Capital to return 16 Boeing 717s, leaving it at the time with a fleet of only 9 aircraft.
Acquisition by Republic Airways Holdings On June 23, 2009,
Republic Airways Holdings, Inc announced they would acquire Midwest Airlines for $31 million. The deal closed on July 30. Midwest became a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways and continued to operate under current branding. The Midwest Airlines FAA operating certificate expired on November 3, 2009. The acquisition by Republic occurred just 22 months after TPG and Northwest Airlines paid $450 million for Midwest. The total loss of investment by TPG and Northwest was 93% or $419 million.
Flight outsourcing to Republic Airways On September 3, 2008, Midwest Airlines announced its plan to
outsource all of its flight operations to
Republic Airways. Republic began operating twelve 76-seat
Embraer ERJ-170 jets under the Midwest Connect name while Midwest returned its 25
Boeing 717 planes to Boeing under a lease renegotiation. While this change caused the additional layoffs bringing the total of pink-slipped Midwest pilots to nearly 300 and total employee cuts for the year to 1,850, Midwest indicated that it hoped to begin operating these new planes itself with Midwest crews in 8–12 months from that time.
Merger into Frontier Airlines Midwest Airlines' final flight operated with a
Boeing 717-200 and staffed with Midwest Airlines flight crews landed in Milwaukee on November 2, 2009. Effective November 3, 2009, Midwest Airlines ceased to exist as an operating airline (allowing its
DOT air carrier operator certificate to lapse). Midwest Connect flights operated by SkyWest Airlines also ended. Midwest Connect flights operated by Republic and Chautauqua Airlines would continue to operate using the YX code through September 2010. On April 13, 2010, parent company
Republic Airways Holdings announced that its Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines brands would merge under the Frontier Airlines name. Parts of the Midwest brand were incorporated into the Frontier brand as part of the merger, namely the Midwest cookie and the slogan of Midwest Airlines, "The Best Care In The Air." On August 9, 2019, it was announced that
Elite Airways had signed an operating agreement to provide the initial aircraft, flight crews, and maintenance service for Midwest Express. On August 28, 2019, the airline announced its initial route network, which were to include Cincinnati, Omaha, and Grand Rapids, with service to commence by the year end. As of end-February 2020, however, the launch had been delayed three months. In early May 2020, Republic (RPA) aircraft were being observed via ADS-B virtual radar being operated on Republic routes using scheduled RPA flight numbers but with the Midwest Airlines (MEP) prefix. ==Corporate affairs==