Midwest Pilots ‘Outraged’ by Outsourced Flights
The chief of the union representing Midwest Airlines’ pilots says he’s “outraged” by airline management’s decision to have Republic Airways’ (Web site: www.rjet.com) crews fly a dozen EMB 170s, effectively replacing all but nine of the Boeing 717s flown by Midwest pilots.
The move “marks a dark day in the history of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and management has essentially sounded the death knell for Midwest Airlines,” contends Captain Jay Schenedorf in a prepared statement. He's chairman of the Midwest unit of the Air Line Pilots Association (Web site: www.alpa.org. Schenedorf maintains the decision also signals the end of the reputation the carrier has built for providing “the best care in the air,” the company’s motto.
Timothy E. Hoeksema, Midwest Chairman and CEO, says the carrier will be returning 16 Boeing 717s to the aircrafts’ lessor, leaving it nine Boeings out of an original fleet that numbered 25.
The Republic-flown Embraers will begin flying under the Midwest Connect banner beginning October 1, a decision Hokesema says: “makes good economic sense.”
Midwest Airlines is in the throes of voluntary restructuring, one that has seen the elimination of some routes, the laying off of personnel, and, now, the outsourcing of a significant chunk of its flying. Also in a prepared statement, Hoeksema contends the airline’s strategy of “offering nonstop service to key business markets and giving our customers what they have always valued about the Midwest brand — what we were built on — will not change.”
Schenedorf seems less sure. He maintains management’s tactics “are, further decimating this airline.” Hoeksema says he’s told ALPA and other airline unions, “This was the best option to keep our airline viable.”
Not only is Midwest beset by still sky-high jet fuel prices, but it’s being pressured by discount airline AirTran, which added significant service out of Midwest’s Milwaukee (MKE) hub after Midwest rebuffed repeated attempts by the discount carrier to merge with the Wisconsin airline.
© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler