What Once Was: The Legacy of Midwest Express Airlines

A Midwest Airlines Boeing 717 landing into Reagan National (Parisot Frederic)

Growing up in Milwaukee, I had the opportunity to experience a one-of-a-kind airline in Midwest Express Airlines. This airline gave me an opportunity to see what the US was like outside of Wisconsin, when I was able to fly directly to destinations such as San Francisco or Los Angeles. It was a better alternative than flying Northwest where we had to connect with another flight at either Detroit or Minneapolis. Since it’s the airline’s 41st anniversary on June 11th as well as my one year anniversary of visiting Milwaukee for the first time since moving to Seattle, I felt like this post would be appropriate. Continuing with my new series “What Once Was,” I’ll be going over the brief history of the airline’s origins, its fleet, service, route network and how its eventual demise had an impact on the City of Milwaukee. 

Origins

A Midwest Express DC-9 in Milwaukee. N100ME would be part of the only hull loss in the airline's history when the plane crashed after takeoff in Milwaukee (Spotnap).

The origins of this hard-working carrier began in 1969 in the town of Neenah, Wisconsin with KC Aviation, a subsidiary for Kimberly-Clark providing air charters for executives traveling between Neenah and the many paper mills across the nation. They would operate these flights out of Outagamie Regional Airport (now Appleton International Airport) in Appleton, WI. Then a seismic change occurred in 1978 when President Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act allowing airlines to plan routes with little to no government approval helping increase competition in the industry. This gave executives at Kimberly Clark an opportunity to create a commercial airline with their pre-established network. Then on June 11th 1984, Midwest Express was established as an airline based out of Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee. So with this airline established, the next big question is what was their fleet like? 

Fleet

An overview of Midwest Express' fleet (Planespotters.net)

The airline started off with two DC-9s and a Convair 580 (used mainly for KC charters). Eventually as the 80s progressed, the carrier ordered more DC-9s (4 DC-9-10s and 16 DC-9-30s) and eventually the MD-80 series (8 MD-81s, 3 MD-82s, and 4 MD-88s).

A Midwest MD-80 landing into Los Angeles (Frank C Duarte Jr).

Then “on April 17th, 1989, Midwest launched their subsidiary Skyway Airlines which allowed the airline to connect Milwaukee with smaller cities in the region” (Minch, 37).  The subsidiary, operated at one time 12 Beech 1900Ds and 10 Fairchild Dornier 328-300s. Near the end of Midwest’s existence , the DC-9s and MD-80s would eventually be replaced by the Boeing 717. However the biggest highlight of the airline is the world-class service it provided.

Service

The 2-2 leather seat configuration is something you don't see often but Midwest Express did it (Sam Chui).

When it comes to service, Midwest Express was known for being more “boutique” compared to its competitors. Initially, their DC-9s and MD-80s had leather seats in a 2-2 configuration until 2003. After that, while some aircraft would have leather seats on their “Signature Service” routes, others had regular seating on their “Saver Service.” But it wasn’t just the seats that made the airline special. The airline would serve full meals, complementary alcoholic beverages and the biggest highlight of them all, fresh chocolate chip cookies baked on board.  The aroma of chocolate chip cookies would waft through the cabin during the flight building the anticipation of the savory sweet treat for passengers. With all of these perks the airline offered, it once had a robust network as well. 

Routes

Route map for Midwest Airlines (Departed Flights).

So where did Midwest fly? As previously mentioned, they started off flying within the KC charter network. Eventually, when the airline expanded, it would have hubs in Milwaukee, Omaha (demoted to a focus city in 2002), and Kansas City (2002 until the airline’s demise in 2009). The destinations that Midwest would fly to initially would mainly be eastern US destinations such as New York (LaGuardia and Newark), Washington DC, and Atlanta. Not only that, but the airline even once had a partnership with Virgin Atlantic back in 1997 where frequent fliers could book a flight from Milwaukee to London by flying to Boston on Midwest and then taking Virgin to London Heathrow. Subsequently, the airline would expand westward into cities such as Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Concourse D in Milwaukee. This was once the home of Midwest Airlines with the clock in the middle of the concourse (Jamsheed Motafram).

Eventually in 2003, to reduce costs, Midwest introduced their aforementioned “Signature Service” and “Saver Service.” The former would focus more on business heavy routes such as: (Milwaukee-San Francisco; Milwaukee-Washington National; Milwaukee-Dallas Ft.Worth) while the latter focused on leisure destinations such as: (Milwaukee-Phoenix; Milwaukee-Orlando; Milwaukee-Los Angeles). Unfortunately due to the post 9/11 aviation climate, this well-respected airline would die a slow painful death in the years that followed. 

Demise of the Airline

Midwest Express DC-9s at Mojave Airport spending its last days in an aircraft graveyard (Michael Carter).

Thanks to the fallout from 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, oil prices started to go up which resulted in higher fares for passengers. This combined with the public being afraid to fly due to the threat of terrorism along with new passenger screening procedures made a dent on demand. Not only that, low-cost carriers started to emerge thus putting pressure on the struggling carrier. As a result, the airline started to charge for meals on board and dropped the name “Express” from their brand name as well as introducing the previously mentioned Signature and Saver Services. 

What once was the Midwest hangars in Milwaukee (Jamsheed Motafram).

However that still wouldn’t be enough. The DC-9 and MD-80 which made the carrier famous unfortunately were forced into retirement due to increasing operational costs. Then after fighting off AirTran Airways proposed takeover in the mid-2000s, Midwest would eventually be acquired by TPG Capital and Northwest Airlines in 2007. Sadly, the last straw would come in 2008 when Republic Airways would acquire the airline and on November 2nd, 2009, the Milwaukee-based carrier would fly its final flight. 

Impact on Milwaukee

The D gates at Milwaukee as my Alaska Airlines flight approaches the former home of Midwest (Jamsheed Motafram).

With the loss of Midwest Express, the City of Milwaukee would eventually be like a lot of cities in the US that saw airline consolidation have a negative impact of connecting with the rest of the country. With less direct flight options available for travelers, airfares became more expensive for direct flights to/from Milwaukee. That’s where larger carriers such as Delta come in because they can funnel people traveling from Milwaukee into the former Northwest Airlines’ hubs of Detroit and Minneapolis.

A collection of Midwest memorabilia at the Mitchell Gallery of Flight at Mitchell Field (Jamsheed Motafram).

But it still isn't enough as there isn't a full-service carrier providing more options to fly from the Cream City. But there is one airline that still carries the torch providing service between Milwaukee and the West Coast and that airline is Alaska Airlines. They even adapted the slogan “Alaska Carelines” which is a play on “The Best Care in the Air.” So while Midwest Airlines is gone, it’s good that my new hometown carrier is able to follow Midwest’s core values. Alaska even flies out of Concourse D in Milwaukee, which was where Midwest used to fly out of. 

The Impact of Midwest Airlines

An Alaska 737 in Milwaukee. It's good to have a hometown airline again with Alaska. This airline filled the void left behind by Midwest (Jamsheed Motafram).

A lot of people when it comes to fallen flag carriers talk about airline powerhouses such as PanAm or TWA. But while those airlines deserve their fanfare, more attention should be on the impact of Midwest Express and how it put a small town like Milwaukee on the map. The standard that this airline set I would even argue had an impact on other carriers when it comes to their service.

Emirates Premium Economy. Note how this has leather seating similar to Midwest (Emirates).

Look no further than Emirates and their new premium economy section. They have leather seating and higher quality food service thus evoking Midwest in a more flashy manner. And even on my Delta flight between Paris and Seattle, I was offered a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie fueling my nostalgia.  Also, shoutout to former Midwest 717 Captain Alan Minich, who wrote an article in the July 2005 edition of Airways Magazine that I got most of this information from. But what do you guys think? Have you ever flown on Midwest? Be sure to leave a comment below and keep looking to the sky!