To: All Midwest and Skyway Airlines Employees
Date: December 21, 2006
From: Scott Dickson, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Lynda Kohler, Director of Airline Partner Services
Subject: 50-Seat Regional Jet Program Now Official

We're very pleased to announce that Midwest Airlines has reached agreement with SkyWest Airlines, Inc. to operate 50-seat regional jet service beginning in April 2007. SkyWest will operate a minimum of 15 and up to 25 Canadair Regional Jets for Midwest during the five-year term of the agreement.

Flying as Midwest Connect, the SkyWest jets will allow us to quickly and cost-effectively add new destinations, increase frequency on existing routes and upgrade several regional routes to all-jet service. SkyWest, which is based in St. George, Utah, will provide aircraft, flight crews and maintenance services for the 50-seat aircraft. Midwest Airlines will oversee route planning, scheduling, marketing and sales for the new flights. Specific routes from Milwaukee and Kansas City, as well as schedules, will be announced at a later date.

We chose SkyWest because of their experience, their excellent record of operational performance, and a commitment to customer service that mirrors that of Midwest. We're excited to partner with one of the highest quality operators of commuter aircraft to offer greatly expanded travel opportunities to our customers. We're confident this program will be popular with passengers, and successful for both Midwest and SkyWest.

The aircraft will be painted in the Midwest Connect livery and feature Midwest's brown leather seats, buy-onboard Best Care Cuisine meals, and popular baked-onboard chocolate chip cookies.

As you know, Skyway Airlines also operates under the Midwest Connect brand. Skyway will continue to operate our fleet of 328JET and Beech 1900 aircraft as a vital element of Midwest's route network.

The new regional jet program is an essential component of our growth plans. Our comprehensive long-term business and strategic plans provide us with a capacity increase of 15% in 2007 and averaging 10% per year over the next three years, as well as significantly greater growth in profitability. The planned expansion will result in an increase of employment of approximately 8% in 2007, not including staffing associated with the new CRJ program. Additionally, two MD-80 series aircraft and one 328JET are expected to go into revenue service in the first half of 2007.

In response to customer requests, we are also announcing plans to reconfigure our Saver Service operations to add several rows of two-by-two Signature Service seating. The new seating option on the MD-80 aircraft is intended to further differentiate our product in the marketplace, a practice that has served us well over the last 22 years. Listening to our travelers and offering them choices has earned us an extremely loyal customer base, and made us the successful company we are today. The seating change is planned for later in 2007.

In 2007, travelers will benefit from Midwest's most aggressive route expansion in recent years. Both Milwaukee and Kansas City will see exciting enhancements, as we add at least six new destinations and as many as 12 new routes. We'll also continue to upgrade turboprop markets, with four more cities transitioning to all-regional jet service. These plans are a reflection of our ongoing commitment to providing customers with a truly differentiated travel experience at a time when other airlines have commoditized flying.


** SIgnature Class up front in the Saver Aircraft.. Great Move!!
**This ought to put a spur in Joe Leonards a$$!!

Quoting N917ME (Thread starter): In response to customer requests, we are also announcing plans to reconfigure our Saver Service operations to add several rows of two-by-two Signature Service seating.

2-Class Seating!!!! - Looking more and more like Airtran everyday.

Craig
MKE

Quoting Vivavegas (Reply 1): 2-Class Seating!!!! - Looking more and more like Airtran everyday.

Uh... Not hardly. About half the aircraft will be Signature, the other half saver w/ 34" pitch vs. AirTramps 30" pitch.

Quoting N917ME (Thread starter): Both Milwaukee and Kansas City will see exciting enhancements, as we add at least six new destinations and as many as 12 new routes.

Please come to TOL!! We would love to have your service.

On another note, why don't they go out and get some Do 328 turboprops to replace the B1900s? Could someone explain to me why they aren't? I don't know the differences between the Jet and Turboprop version other then the jet engine. Are operating costs fairly similar that the turboprop version doesn't offer any type of savings?

Thanks ~ Ryan

Quoting N917ME (Thread starter): as we add at least six new destinations

Im going with:
SEA
RDU
CLT
PVD
MSY

wildcards:
CVG, YUL, BUF, LIT, HPN, JAX, RIC

Me wonders if the 50-pax RJ deal is a sort of poison pill for AirTran -- Are they concertedly trying to make the Midwest business model incompatible with that of AirTran?

I hope they don't replace Skyway in PIT. I love their Do328JET's!

Quoting RL757PVD (Reply 4): Im going with: SEA RDU CLT PVD MSY wildcards: CVG, YUL, BUF, LIT, HPN, JAX, RIC

You need a bigger plane to hit SEA, RDU used to be served from MKE but facility/landing fees made in un-profitable, CVG lost service a couple years ago.

Quoting Boeing7E7 (Reply 2): Uh... Not hardly. About half the aircraft will be Signature, the other half saver w/ 34" pitch vs. AirTramps 30" pitch.

Quoting N917ME (Thread starter): add several rows of two-by-two Signature Service seating

Umm, not sure what the word "several" means to you, but it will be 4-5 rows tops (16-20 Sig).

It would make absolutely no financial sense to make "about half the aircraft".

Craig
MKE

Quoting AirTran737 (Reply 7): You need a bigger plane to hit SEA, RDU used to be served from MKE but facility/landing fees made in un-profitable, CVG lost service a couple years ago.

But RDU was served with the D91s (60-seats), followed by the 328jets for a brief period, so I think an RJ, at this point, would probably be justified.

I agree that seasonal service to SEA would be appropriate. NW has had success with seasonal IND-SEA on a 319. I would think that YX could have similar luck.

Quoting Drgmobile (Reply 5): Me wonders if the 50-pax RJ deal is a sort of poison pill for AirTran -- Are they concertedly trying to make the Midwest business model incompatible with that of AirTran?

No, it has been public information since summer that they were planning to add 50-seat RJ's, and discussed internally much longer than that. They put out an RFP for airlines to bid on this service for months, and the announcement today is actually quite a few weeks later than it was originally expected.

Quoting Flyinryan99 (Reply 3): On another note, why don't they go out and get some Do 328 turboprops to replace the B1900s? Could someone explain to me why they aren't? I don't know the differences between the Jet and Turboprop version other then the jet engine. Are operating costs fairly similar that the turboprop version doesn't offer any type of savings?

The Beech 1900's are almost certainly on their way out, although that's not yet a guarantee, particularly given their EAS markets. They are down to six BE1 from a high of 15 not all that long ago. They have added two more FRJ's in part to replace BE1, and some of the added CRJ lift will replace FRJ's, so FRJ's can replace BE1.

While the FRJ is an orphan aircraft, it was a short production run and many of the available aircraft are not in good shape. Of the two they picked up a few months ago, one is still not in service because of the work that needed to be done. I believe when they announced that FRJ's #11 and #12 were coming late last summer, they said they may acquire more if good models come on the market.

Quoting Drgmobile (Reply 5): Me wonders if the 50-pax RJ deal is a sort of poison pill for AirTran -- Are they concertedly trying to make the Midwest business model incompatible with that of AirTran?

IIRC, YX already has a poison pill option they would consider. Whether it is enough to deter FL I don't know.

The thread below was started first. As this thread contains valuable infomation, I'll leave it up. But please continue your conversation on the thread below:

Thanks



YX And OO (by FLIGHTDECK787 Dec 21 2006 in Civil Aviation)

Quoting AirTran737 (Reply 7): You need a bigger plane to hit SEA,

That's where the two new (used) MD-88's come in.

Quoting Knope2001 (Reply 10): While the FRJ is an orphan aircraft, it was a short production run and many of the available aircraft are not in good shape. Of the two they picked up a few months ago, one is still not in service because of the work that needed to be done. I believe when they announced that FRJ's #11 and #12 were coming late last summer, they said they may acquire more if good models come on the market.

I had heard the ones sitting down in MYR were practically crap, thanks for the response. I was more or less wondering if they could replace the B1900s with Dornier 328 Turboprops as opposed to the FRJs. I was wondering if the operating costs were negligible to get the 328 turboprops to replace the B1900s because I had heard the transition to the FRJ wasn't difficult. Thanks again.