Midwest to ground all MD80's by the fall [MERGED]

[OhMari]

I found this on the Midwest Time Table this morning.

The timetable is Labled July 2008

To Orlando FL (MCO) 1069 miles
7:55a 11:30a 890 M81 Daily 0 F
2:25p 6:05p 894 M81 Daily 0 F
Above flight Disc. AUG3, Exc. JUL17
2:55p 6:35p 894 M81 Daily 0 F
Above flight Eff. JUL17, Exc. JUL18 - AUG3
6:35p 10:10p 898 M88 Daily 0 F
Above flight Disc. SEP7

Here is the link:http://www.metimetable.com/Midwest.pdf

So, they know our flights are being cancelled, I wish they would call and notify us. I am on the 11:30 a 890-at least get me on the 2:55 p.m. flight.

 

[Ilovemylife]

I found this on the Midwest Time Table this morning.

The timetable is Labled July 2008



Here is the link:http://www.metimetable.com/Midwest.pdf

So, they know our flights are being cancelled, I wish they would call and notify us. I am on the 11:30 a 890-at least get me on the 2:55 p.m. flight.

I'm a bit confused by that table. Does that mean the 2:55 flight is staying? That's the one we're flying on out of MKE.

 

[faberj]

I am on hold with them now as the 890 flight to Orlando is my flight in December and it is being discontinued as of August 3rd. I am wondering why they have not contacted me as of yet.

 

[cbjl]

As I read the timetable, it doesn't have any new information -

Flight 890 hasn't been cancelled (yet) -

The timetable said "above flight Disc." (singular) not flights (plural) & was only talking about adjusting the timing on flight 894. The early summer time for 894 is discontinued, and they are moving it to take off a half hour later in August (and July 17).


The evening flight, 898, is being cancelled, but we knew about that earlier

 

[cbjl]

I'm a bit confused by that table. Does that mean the 2:55 flight is staying? That's the one we're flying on out of MKE.

Yes, I read it to mean that 894 is staying (for now), but the times change on Aug 3 (and July 17).

 

[CarolA]

Since that timetable still shows you on MD80s I would not think it's the Final word LOL!

 

[Inkmahm]

Midwest Airlines cuts work force by 40 percent
Midwest Airlines cutting 1,200 people as it takes MD-80s out of fleet
July 14, 2008: 12:17 PM EST


NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Midwest Airlines said on Monday it will reduce its work force by 1,200 people as it grounds its 12 MD-80s.

The cuts represent about 40 percent of current staffing at Midwest and its Skyway subsidiary. Besides the MD-80s _ which it is flying until this fall _ Midwest also flies 25 Boeing 717s.

"In order to successfully restructure, there is no way to avoid deep and painful reductions to our current work force," said Timothy E. Hoeksema, chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

The company said it would begin notifying affected employees Monday, with most jobs ended by mid-September. The job cuts will include unionized pilots and flight attendants, said Michael Brophy, a spokesman for Oak Creek, Wis.-based Midwest Air Group Inc.

Brophy also said Midwest is continuing talks with unions for pilots and flight attendants to reach deals on concessions to reduce the airline's costs.

"We need some fairly meaningful and significant concessions from each group," he said. "We're making some progress but we need more progress."

Like other airlines, Midwest has been hurt by soaring fuel costs.

Private equity firm TPG Capital in January completed its roughly $450 million acquisition of Midwest Air Group Inc. and paid 53 percent of the purchase price. Northwest Airlines Corp. owns the rest.


http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/4889e2100c3d0040ac042a97aeb5e029.htm

 

[Inkmahm]

Looks like the plan is still to elminate all of the MD-80's by mid-September. We just don't have a clue what that means for our Florida trips. I'm guessing it means a lot of flying through Indianapolis and Kansas City on smaller planes, but we really won't know that until Midwest changes their schedule to SHOW the MD-80's are gone!

 

[cbjl]

from
http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/25329854.html
(bolding is mine)

Midwest Will Cut Workforce By 40 Percent
Tom Murray
Katie DeLong
OAK CREEK – Massive job cuts at Midwest Airlines: the airline plans to slash its workforce by 40 percent.

Midwest will begin telling people Monday if they’ll be laid off, and many of those workers are from Milwaukee.

Midwest said Monday it is doing its best to speak with employees face to face. There is a formal letter that will be issued later Monday afternoon to a lot of the employees that are going to be cut. Employees should find out by the end of the week if they’ll be losing their jobs.

The massive cut impacts every area of the Midwest workforce: 150 to 175 pilots, more than 150 flight attendants, gate agents, ramp workers, mechanics and reservation agents.

The cuts, in some cases, will take effect in just a few weeks, and others will keep their jobs until September.

The cuts are directly linked to Midwest’s decision to ground its MD-80s in their fleet, shrinking the company to a leaner airline.

Midwest Spokesperson Michael Brophy says destinations will be eliminated.

“This is tough for employees, obviously, and it’s tough for the community, but it’s something we had to do,” Brophy said.

TODAY’S TMJ4’s Tom Murray: “Will destinations be eliminated?”

“There will be some, certainly. I think that when you take 12 airplanes out of a fleet, you can just surmise that there will be some destinations that will not be there,” Brophy said.

In the coming weeks, Midwest Airlines will announce its new schedule, where we will see flights eliminated and destinations eliminated. We don’t know which destinations will be eliminated yet.

If you’re holding a ticket for sometime later this year, and it happens to be one of those eliminated destinations, Midwest says it will do its best to accommodate you on a different airline when that schedule comes out.

Here are some key dates in the recent history of Milwaukee’s hometown airline: in January of this year, Midwest was sold to investment firm TPG Capitol.

In spring, the airline dumped more than 300 jobs by contracting with another company to run Midwest Connect flights.

In late June, Midwest announced it would cut jobs and ground planes, while also seeking massive pay cuts from its pilots and flight attendants.

Monday, Midwest announced it will cut more than 1,000 jobs, slashing its workforce by 40 percent.

 

[brandylouwho]

copied this from a flyertalk forum:

"Midwest's Mike Brophy called in live to Jeff Wagner's show today on WTMJ Radio and offered the following:


Midwest wants to avoid filing for Chapter 11 and admits the process will be painful

Talks are still in process with the unions

Part of the restructuring process is to focus on business destinations, which will not make their leisure traveler customer happy

Revised flight schedules will not be released until the next 1-1/2 weeks, or so, for competitive reasons

Customers who booked YX flights that will be eliminated will be reaccommodated on other carriers or issued a refund"

Yes, we knew this, but I didn't want to hear it today.

I had YX890 & YX891 booked for our Dec vacation. non-stop, great times for us. Ugh.

So, which carrier do you all think I (we) should be looking at when I end up rebooking our trip for this December? Any one more likely to be around than another? I could fly out of Chicago if I have to (I do NOT want to drive all the way to Orlando this Dec).

Oh, yeah, airfare has about doubled from what I paid in Feb.

 

[Inkmahm]

copied this from a flyertalk forum:

"Midwest's Mike Brophy called in live to Jeff Wagner's show today on WTMJ Radio and offered the following:


Midwest wants to avoid filing for Chapter 11 and admits the process will be painful

Talks are still in process with the unions

Part of the restructuring process is to focus on business destinations, which will not make their leisure traveler customer happy

Revised flight schedules will not be released until the next 1-1/2 weeks, or so, for competitive reasons

Customers who booked YX flights that will be eliminated will be reaccommodated on other carriers or issued a refund"

Yes, we knew this, but I didn't want to hear it today.

I had YX890 & YX891 booked for our Dec vacation. non-stop, great times for us. Ugh.

So, which carrier do you all think I (we) should be looking at when I end up rebooking our trip for this December? Any one more likely to be around than another? I could fly out of Chicago if I have to (I do NOT want to drive all the way to Orlando this Dec).

Oh, yeah, airfare has about doubled from what I paid in Feb.

After Midwest announced in June that they were grounding MD-80's and would concentrate on the business market, I bought tickets for our December trip on Air Tran. Who knows how that will work out? But for right now, I hold tickets on BOTH Midwest and Air Tran for each of the 5 of us. My hope is that ONE of the two will be flying to get us there. Right now, I'd rather Midwest just cancel the flights and give me a refund.

The same is not true for my October trip to MCO. For that one, I'm hoping Midwest will book us on another airline (Air Tran?) because the costs are much higher than what I paid on Midwest for me to switch us to Air Tran.

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

So, which carrier do you all think I (we) should be looking at when I end up rebooking our trip for this December? Any one more likely to be around than another? I could fly out of Chicago if I have to (I do NOT want to drive all the way to Orlando this Dec).

Oh, yeah, airfare has about doubled from what I paid in Feb.

I did the same as Inkmahm and booked another flight. I booked with AA leaving from Chicago. It has great flight times for us.

I would start looking around, and have a contingency plan in place, the flight heading down to Orlando is slowly booking up. The price fluctuates up and down, I've been watching both airlines.

I just hope I can get a refund from Midwest.

 

[faberj]

Has anyone considered driving down to Chicago Midway and catching a flight on SouthWest? It is close to a 3 hour drive for us to get there from where we live, but it is better than driving to WDW in December!!! If we were to go that route we might fly out a day earlier and then come home much earlier on the 14th. With how bad Airtran is doing I am not sure I am comfortable booking with them either. SouthWest seems like the only airline that is doing Okay right now.
I guess I will have to continue to wait to learn what the fate is for my midwest flight. If they are going to cancel I would hope I can get a refund and fly with a carrier of my chocie.

 

[Ilovemylife]

Great. So if need be, they'll re-book us on a different airline, probably at today's prices.

Just *bleep* great. There is a reason I bought my ticket six months in advance (much more affordable) and now it's coming back to bite me in the butt.

I can't afford to pay $400+ per person to get to MCO!

 

[CarolA]

If MidWest rebooks you they will probably take advantage of thier interline agreements. In that case you probably won't have to pay, but I am not making any "guarantee".

As to which airlines will be around... I honestly don't expect any of them to QUIT flying (except MAYBE Spirit) I do expect some Chap 11 filings but most airlines just keep right on flying.

The BIG advantage of SW is that since they release that schedule so late they really expect to FLY those flights. (NOTE: SW does not have any interline agreements, MidWest will not be able to transfer you to SW!)

 

[McKelly]

Great. So if need be, they'll re-book us on a different airline, probably at today's prices.

Just *bleep* great. There is a reason I bought my ticket six months in advance (much more affordable) and now it's coming back to bite me in the butt.

I can't afford to pay $400+ per person to get to MCO!

We bought ours early too, for a good price. We are going Xmas week. When they say they will accomodate us on other airlines, do you really think we will have to pay the price difference, I sure hope not!!

 

[twinsplusone]

We booked as soon as Midwest released the Feb '09 rates/schedule. I thought I was being so smart. We got a good rate and now I sit and wait. (nervously, I might add) We really can't afford more for flights. DH keeps saying don't worry. We paid for them to get us there and if it means getting there on a donkey then so be it. He's usually the worrier and I'm the one that says it'll work out, but I feel so responsible since I convinced DH going to Disney was going to be fun. He's kinda anti-Disney.

You'd think Orlando would be profitable for them. It seems like a popular destintion. I just wish they'd announce their decisions and get it over with already.

 

[cbjl]

Since NWA owns a big chunk of Midwest (40%? I can't remember exactly), I would guess that the first carrier they would try to put us on would be NWA. Since Delta is buying NWA, maybe Delta would be a likely 2nd option (although they're cutting flights to Orlando, so who knows).
I suspect that if they do start to look at routing passengers on other airlines to MCO, they might try to rebook on a Midwest flight to Indianapolis, then put you on a NWA flight to Orlando. They are selling these tickets already (4 hour layover I think?), so that's all I based my guess on - no inside info.
They might also just route everyone through Kansas City - maybe even on a direct/1-stop flight to pick up extra passengers, but I might be dreaming on this one.

I'm starting to squirm a bit, too. We have a trip in Nov to meet up with a big bunch of extended family, so I know we have to get there somehow. If it was just my immediate family, we'd probably just ride it out & take our chances on Midwest coming through with something. But, I'm starting to think about backup options - do I really want to fight traffic, crowds & delays at O'Hare, or just take a connecting flight through Atlanta, Memphis, Detroit...

ugh - I wish they would just announce the new schedule already!!

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Anybody know if one of those other airline agreements for reaccomodating displaced passengers is with United?

For us, United out of O'Hare has the best flight times/prices for non-stop and there are some great hotel/parking packages. For anywhere from $89-$169 we can stay overnight at a hotel, park our car for 10 days and get airport shuttles both ways.

 

[McKelly]

Does everyone think that they will completely eliminate Orlando altogether, or just reduce their flights. I know Orlando is a major leisure market, but it seems that there are A LOT of convention centers around the Orlando area, or would that not be considered "business"?