Midwest To Drop 717s, CRJ200s

Midwest Airlines’ fleet could fall to 23 aircraft under a restructuring plan that drops a combined 11 cities from Midwest Air Group’s mainline and regional services. The announcement comes less than a week after Midwest Air notified staff that it was reducing payroll levels 40% (DAILY, July 15). These cuts are part of a capacity initiative that will also see the carrier drop its entire fleet of 12 MD-80s to relieve financial pressures stemming from high fuel costs. A Midwest executive also confirms the airline is in talks with Boeing to return two of its 25 717s. If successful, the airline’s fleet will fall to 23 717s, although the operational fleet will be 21 aircraft, as one 717 is being assigned to charter service and another held as a spare. Under the new network structure, Midwest says it will serve 32 cities. To... [read full story]