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

[Inkmahm]

I think we were. Our flight went from nonstop to a single stop, the second leg of which is on NW.

Does anyone know if they are allowing refunds if the flight time/route change was dramatic? I missed the online chat window today, and I don't feel like being on hold ages right now. I'm really on the fence here as the initial price I got was so good, but with 2 small children, we really wanted nonstop, and the new flight takes away 5 hours of park time for us. That seems huge with only a 5 night trip.

I'd consider that a codeshare but that's the closest I've heard to being booked on something other than Midwest.

You will get a refund if you request one. I'd check though to see if you can get flights on another airline that you want before you turn down the new flights (if they are available) from Midwest.

 

[OhMari]

I told DH the flights I was looking at. They have really good times and it's nonstop for $100 more than we paid. But it's a 3.5 hour drive to the airport instead of 1 hour and we'd have to stay the night before in a hotel.

When he heard it was still more expensive than what we've paid Midwest, he says Midwest should accomodate us. I just wish I knew! It's possible we still have our November flight but I can't get through.

Anybody know how late they are manning the phones? I can't call at 8:00 am until my day off Wednesday.

Do you have a 6 digit code? You can register with Midwest airlines, and type in that code and it will tell you if there are any changes on your flight. Mine got cancelled, because all the flights were full and they couldn't fit us on the plane from Indiana to Milwaukee. It really stinks, this is why I took the refund.

 

[robinb]

Has ANYONE been booked BY Midwest on another airline or have all of us either taken a reassignment on another Midwest flight or a refund to book our own flights elsewhere? I still haven't heard of Midwest booking anyone on another airline. Not a single person.

Nope. They only offered me a refund for my canceled October/November flights to LAX. I'm on the phone now to get my money refunded.

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

I am trying to get through one of the lines and nothing but busy. I feel like I am trying to win concert tickets with hitting the redial every 2 seconds.

There are 10 of us flying from MKE to MCO 10/24-10/31...I can only view my single reservation (reward fare). I got rebooked "automatically". I can't get into the reservations for the rest of my party on line. When I view my seat, there are no other seats marked as in my party, but all reservations are linked. Maybe I am the only one going!

I guess it is going to be a late night trying to get through. I can't go to sleep not knowing what is going on with the rest of my family.


sarah

ETA...I am on HOLD!!! YEAH!!!

 

[bjscheel]

Do you have a 6 digit code? You can register with Midwest airlines, and type in that code and it will tell you if there are any changes on your flight. Mine got cancelled, because all the flights were full and they couldn't fit us on the plane from Indiana to Milwaukee. It really stinks, this is why I took the refund.

I'm registered, but I get the error message. Keep getting a busy signal.

I have taken another look at the Timetable posted on the Midwest website and our flights between Milwaukee and Orlando are gone. I take that as a bad sign? The ones between Des Moines and Milwaukee are still there though.

Now to talk DH into going with the SW flights I found. He doesn't like to park our vehicle somewhere, we usually have SIL drop us off and pick us up but this will be too far for that.

 

[CarolA]

For those of you who fly alot--we are considering a few airline options for rebooking to MCO in April/May. Is 45 minutes enough time to change planes(on the same airline), take a potty break, and grab a snack without missing your flight in Atlanta or O'Hare? I have never flown anything but non-stop so I am stupid as to the process of changing planes. Do you have to go check in at the ticket counter again or just at the gate? Sorry for the questions but I don't want to assume anything. TIA

Probably not.

The fact that "potty break and snack" are on the list mean you are in trouble.

It's enough time to go directly from plane one to plane two in Atlanta. That's it. You might THEN have some extra time, but they want you on the plane 15 minutes before departure and it generally takes a little while to get off.

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

UPDATE...

I have/had a seat on a rebooked flight because it was a frequent flier fare.

Tell me how much sense that makes. So I got a refund on all fares and my miles back.

Now if DH would just get his butt home so we could figure out what we are doing.


Sarah

 

[rainbowsandroses]

1:20 am CDT and I finally got through - was on hold for about 20 minutes.

My flights were changed (from mke 7:55am and from MCO 7:20 pm originally) to 11:20 departure from MKE switching in Indy and arriving at 4:20 pm at MCO. So this was even later than I had anticipated based on what was posted here. My return flight was the 1:35 pm departure from MCO arrriving at MKE at 3:25.

If this wasn't our one and only vacation in/for a long time, I could probably live with those hours, but I really want to maximize my time at DW and this new schedule takes out basically one whole park day from what I had planned.

I do appreciate MW booking us other flights and trying to accommodate us (though I never asked about seating arrangements!)

The poor CSR sounded so tired. I asked for a refund and she gave it to me more than willingly. She said something about setting us up for a quick refund and we would see it posted within 48 hours.

Thank goodness that is over with! Now just hoping Delta stays in business and keeps MCO as a destination.

Good luck to everyone else!

 

[Inkmahm]

The refunds I received from Midwest early Sunday morning are in my paypal account today. Yay!

 

[OhMari]

The refunds I received from Midwest early Sunday morning are in my paypal account today. Yay!

I requested by phone yesterday a refund, after I found out Midwest couldn't get me home from Indy. Now I am reading, I have to do the on-line request for a refund. Did you do one?

 

[cbjl]

Just got off the phone with Midwest customer service
I was calling because on my rescheduled return flight, they assigned the same seat to my daughter and I, which just seems really, really weird. I'm surprised their systems let them do it.

Anyhow, when I was talking to them this morning, my cust service rep said that she knew it looked like I had seats, but I really didn't have any, since they are going to be reconfiguring the planes (I thought they already mapped out the new Midwest class?) and that *none* of our seats were really there and we'd just have to work on that when we checked in at the airport.
Nope. I explained that I was really concerned about how much they may have overbooked the flight if they had 2 passengers assigned to the same seat - had they done that with other seats on the plane? This is not a typical overbooking where they just stop assigning seats after they sell a certain % of the seats. I asked for a refund, she hemmed and hawed, but said ok - it would take 60 days.

I've got to say that I am still just astounded at how badly they are handling these changes. Enormously bad communication before they released the new schedule, ridiculously long hold times when it finally came out, and the rebooking process is crazy. How can they double book an assigned seat?

I don't have a lot of faith that they will even exist in 6 months (What will they do to get people to trust them enough to make new bookings?), and I just hope they have enough cash to pay out all of these refunds....

If you are on the rebooked flights, I'd keep an eye on your seats.

 

[Inkmahm]

I requested by phone yesterday a refund, after I found out Midwest couldn't get me home from Indy. Now I am reading, I have to do the on-line request for a refund. Did you do one?

Nope. The online request didn't work on Sunday morning and from what I've been reading here, it still doesn't work. I just called and talked to a person in the reservations department who processed my refunds.

 

[Inkmahm]

Anyhow, when I was talking to them this morning, my cust service rep said that she knew it looked like I had seats, but I really didn't have any, since they are going to be reconfiguring the planes (I thought they already mapped out the new Midwest class?) and that *none* of our seats were really there and we'd just have to work on that when we checked in at the airport.

That makes NO sense at all. Of course, not much that Midwest is doing lately seems to make sense.

I never thought I'd say that I'm happy to be booked on AirTran instead of Midwest for my next 3 trips to Orlando but I am. What a mess Midwest is making of this.

 

[DisOrBust]

What crap! I was given a refund and told it would hit my account in 24-48 hrs. Why would yours be 6 months???

 

[Inkmahm]

What crap! I was given a refund and told it would hit my account in 24-48 hrs. Why would yours be 6 months???

Read that post again, I think you're confused. No one said anything about 6 months for a refund.

 

[OhMari]

Read that post again, I think you're confused. No one said anything about 6 months for a refund.

She said 60 days. If you paid with a credit card, it could show up in this months' billing cycle or next months. This is why the are saying 60 days. To cover themselves.

I put mine on my Disney VISA to earn Rewards. I can call everyday or check my statement everyday and it will tell me when then payment is there. I don't have to wait for my statements. Disney VISA will also eliminate 10 Reward Dollars when they get the credit. Disney VISA watches credits really closely.

 

[brandylouwho]

Does anyone know if they are allowing refunds if the flight time/route change was dramatic? I missed the online chat window today, and I don't feel like being on hold ages right now. I'm really on the fence here as the initial price I got was so good, but with 2 small children, we really wanted nonstop, and the new flight takes away 5 hours of park time for us. That seems huge with only a 5 night trip.

I had been rebooked from their 7am ish flight to the now once daily 1 pm-ish flight...and we were allowed to choose a refund instead. The rep had to put me on hold and ask a mgr, but they did allow me to do it. (after a day & a half of not even knowing we were reaccommodated, we had already decided to buy through Delta instead and extend our trip by a day).

 

[cbjl]

They told me it would be 60 days because they would have to process my refund manually, and they had a backlog. I'm not sure if all refunds are being processed manually, or if mine had to be handled differently because it was a weird rebooking then refund situation.
I haven't gotten my "normally processed" refund from Sunday yet (different itin). But, since Inkmahm already received a refund through paypal, I would guess that regular refunds, at least, will be done more quickly.

 

[Inkmahm]

They told me it would be 60 days because they would have to process my refund manually, and they had a backlog. I'm not sure if all refunds are being processed manually, or if mine had to be handled differently because it was a weird rebooking then refund situation.
I haven't gotten my "normally processed" refund from Sunday yet (different itin). But, since Inkmahm already received a refund through paypal, I would guess that regular refunds, at least, will be done more quickly.

Mine were manual refunds, too. I had frequent flyer miles used for 2 more tickets with the 3 that were just refunded. And the flights had already been rescheduled once when the last flight out of MKE and first fliight out of MCO were canceled back in June. This would have been the second change to my itinerary had I accepted the new times.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Midwest Airlines announces cut to schedule
Updated 1d 1h ago | Comments38 | Recommend18 E-mail | Save | Print |




Yahoo! Buzz Digg Newsvine Reddit FacebookWhat's this?MILWAUKEE (AP) — Citing the struggle with rising fuel costs, Midwest Airlines has announced it will cut its flight schedule, dropping flights to leisure destinations and retaining departures to core business destinations on which the company built its base.
The changes roll back the Milwaukee-based service to levels that existed at the start of the decade — before a recession and the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Flights to San Diego, as well as Fort Lauderdale, and Fort Myers., Fla. will be cut entirely. Tampa will be the only Florida city retaining year-round service from Midwest.

Nonstop flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle will also be dropped. Those flights will now stop in Kansas City, Mo., where the airline will pick up additional fuel and passengers.

Midwest Connect service will be cut to Baltimore; Hartford, Conn.; Louisville; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; and St. Louis.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Washington | Florida | San Francisco | Seattle | San Diego | St. Louis | Missouri | Kansas City | Tampa | Boeing | Chapter | Fort Lauderdale | Los Angeles | Fort Myers | Mitchell | Information | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Randy Smith | Michael Brophy | Baltimore Hartford
Several cities will see no change. Departures to Atlanta; Boston; Denver; Minneapolis; New York; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Pittsburgh, Tampa; and Washington, D.C., will remain the same.

Midwest Airlines spokesman Michael Brophy said the airline will do its best to rebook passengers who have bought tickets for flights that are being canceled, and refunds passengers who can't be rebooked.

The changes take effect Sept. 8, and come on top of planned job cuts at the airline.

By the numbers, the cuts will leave Midwest with 90 daily departures to 28 cities, down from 118 departures to 38 cities, from Mitchell, where Midwest Airlines and its Midwest Connect regional affiliate are dominant carriers. Systemwide, the new schedule will leave Midwest Airlines/Midwest Connect with 102 daily departures, down from 138.

The service cuts come out to a service reduction of about 30% or 40%, depending on whether the cuts are measured by passenger capacity or flight miles, said Randy Smith, vice president of sales and distribution.

The company indicated there would be schedule cuts last month, when it said it was phasing out a dozen MD-80 jets. The MD-80s, which make up roughly one-third of the Midwest Airlines fleet, use more fuel than the carrier's 25 Boeing 717 jets.

With the new schedule, two Boeing 717s are being dropped from the fleet.

Last week, the company announced it was cutting 1,200 jobs — about 40% of its 3,000-plus work force. The cuts affect pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and ground crews.

Midwest Air is also seeking steep pay cuts from its union flight crews and new terms from the company's creditors, as it tries to avoid filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy