I don't think Midex cares!

[Doug Taylor]

Having worked for the company, I don't think YX and it's employees really give a crap:

Two different products entirely.

AirTran Airways to Provide Much-Needed Service in Milwaukee as Part of Proposed Merger with Midwest Airlines

[desertdog71]

I doubt they give a good god damn either.

[falconvalley]

Hey hey now...

I just skimmed through that article and didn't notice anything about yx's position on the matter. Last time I checked, it was a resounding "NO".

When did we go from proposal to buy to definite merger?

The only organizations that are gungho for this are Air Tran and maybe some naive government activists in MKE. In fact, Air Tran had a meeting with a Milwaukee official to chum up and try and get support.

Trust me, if anybody agrees with y'all, it's most of us up here, yx employees or not!

[Doug Taylor]

I think Air Tran sees a bunch of 717's and a niche operator. I'm not sure YX wants to transform MKE terminal "D" to what goes on in ATL terminal "C"!

[OldTownPilot]

From what Ive heard Midwest has a good product with great CS. I've rerouted some pax on them, and when they came back, they basicly said "you shouldn't have done that I'm gonna fly them now".

It would be a shame for that to dissapear into "LCC mart"

[GaTechKid]

I just can't get excited about the '70s brown leather interior. The cookies are pretty good though!

[falconvalley]

I guess it depends on what you're looking for. If you're a weary business traveler willing to fork over some mullah for your own arm rest and some extra leg room, you're talking about the right airline. That's the meat of their sales pitch.

Not sure I fully understood you guys at the beginning of the thread...are you saying "big deal" to the article?

[desertdog71]

Originally Posted by falconvalley

I guess it depends on what you're looking for. If you're a weary business traveler willing to fork over some mullah for your own arm rest and some extra leg room, you're talking about the right airline. That's the meat of their sales pitch.

Not sure I fully understood you guys at the beginning of the thread...are you saying "big deal" to the article?

Yeah pretty much. I spent enough time in MKE to know better. This is like mixing oil and water. Airtran=cheap/no frills Midwest=Actual Customer service at an airline still.

[falconvalley]

Ahhh, I got ya. I need to sloooowww doooowwwwn and read carefully. I thought you guys thought we lost our minds!

[Minuteman]

STEP 1: Get a big loan and buy Midwest Express.
STEP 2: Sell everything not bolted down in Milwaukee to repay the loan and keep whatever is leftover.
STEP 3: Profit?

They would be wise to at least have a guarded interest.

[falconvalley]

They can have Midwest Express! I don't think we've flown under that name in 3 years...

Of course they're gonna be interested. Like Doug said, we have 717s and we're a competitor. Anyone in AT's shoes would love to get rid of us. I have some doubts they give two hoots about our signature service.

[Minuteman]

Originally Posted by falconvalley

They can have Midwest Express! I don't think we've flown under that name in 3 years...

Yeah, I'm old school like that (my bad).

So what are the options of the labor groups? Obviously the folks at MEP could make life hard if they chose to, but do most labor contracts offer any kind of provision for when an airline gets bought-out (like, you bought the contract that guarantees employment along with the airline)?

[WestIndian425]

All this merger stuff (and this latest one, though tough to achieve, is the most plusible of the recent three) is causing some Capitol Hill folks to start paying attention with the biggest fears of decreased service and higher air fares. Looks like the concerns and predictions of deregulation are starting to come to fruition. Geez, that AER 101 professor was right.

[falconvalley]

Originally Posted by Minuteman

Yeah, I'm old school like that (my bad).

So what are the options of the labor groups? Obviously the folks at MEP could make life hard if they chose to, but do most labor contracts offer any kind of provision for when an airline gets bought-out (like, you bought the contract that guarantees employment along with the airline)?

good question. in my limited experience it almost looks like all we can do is sit back and watch. i've heard of employment agreements, too but i'm sure they could do pretty much whatever they wanted anyway.

[rausda27]

SkyWest was just awarded 50 seat flying for Midwest Connection.

[pilot602]

Originally Posted by rausda27

SkyWest was just awarded 50 seat flying for Midwest Connection.

Something like 25 aircraft out of Milwaukee and KC.

[falconvalley]

Sweet. Glad somebody else will be footin the bill and figuring out what's profitable and what's not.

[Maximillian_Jenius]

Originally Posted by rausda27

SkyWest was just awarded 50 seat flying for Midwest Connection.

And SKYW world domination continues...

[Minuteman]

I was listening to the Delta Reorganization conference call from this Tuesday.

Mike Candle(?) mentions that DAL's pilot agreement required "a pre-merger-level of pilot block hours be maintained," which was contrary to US's proposal to remove "a substantial number of mainline aircraft."

So its probably a safe bet that most pilot agreements do adress the possiblity of a merger.

(At around the 1:28 mark, the Delta's COO goes on about how much attention the NY-based 767s are important to the direction they want to take the company. Dough must know something...)