Skyway Airlines

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Skyway Airlines

IATA AL ICAO SYX Callsign SKYWAY-EX
Founded	1994
Ceased operations	2008
Hubs	General Mitchell International Airport
Frequent flyer program	Midwest Miles
Member lounge	Best Care Club
Fleet size	16
Destinations	19
Parent company	TPG Capital / Midwest Air Group
Headquarters	Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Key people	Leo Malloy - President
Website	http://www.midwestairlines.com

Skyway Airlines is an American ramp and aircraft ground handling services and catering company based in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Until April 5, 2008, it operated as a regional airline under the business name Midwest Connect, feeding Midwest Airlines's hub at General Mitchell International Airport with twelve 32-seat jet aircraft, and four 19-seat Beechcraft 1900 turboprops. On February 2, 2009, Midwest Air Group CEO Tim Hoeksema announced in an internal corporate memorandum that all remaining Skyway functions will be assumed by Midwest Airlines, and that Skyway will cease to exist as a separate entity. No end date for Skyway operations has been announced.

Contents 1 History 2 Destinations 3 Fleet 4 References

[edit] History

Skyway Airlines, The Midwest Express Connection, began flight operations on April 17, 1989.

Skyway began operations as a division of Phoenix, Arizona-based Mesa Air Group. Mesa's Skyway Airlines division operated Beechcraft 1900C 19-passenger airliners, providing regional airline feed to Midwest Express Airlines in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Rockford, Illinois.

In 1994, Midwest Express purchased the Skyway division from Mesa. It reincorporated the airline as Astral Aviation, Inc., doing business as Skyway Airlines. (Astral) Skyway was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Midwest Express Airlines. When Midwest Air Group purchased Skyway, it obtained Beechcraft 1900D models, replacing Mesa's 1900Cs. One benefit of the 1900D was its roomier cabin for improved passenger comfort. Midwest also closed the Rockford base and centered all operations around Midwest Express's Milwaukee hub.

(Astral) Skyway's first flight was from Milwaukee to Flint, Michigan, on February 15, 1994. Skyway grew to operate a fleet of 15 Beechcraft 1900Ds. These connected Milwaukee with communities in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Toronto, Canada.

In 1999, Skyway became the world launch customer for the Fairchild Dornier 328JET aircraft, a 32-seat jet. It ultimately acquired 12 328JETs. The 328JETs allowed Skyway to provide new service to cities as far as Hartford, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Raleigh-Durham, and to provide more comfortable passenger accommodations on routes previously served by the Beechcraft 1900. Skyway planned to transition to an all-jet fleet by obtaining additional 328JET aircraft, purchasing German manufacturer Fairchild Dornier's planned 44-seat version, known as the 428JET, and phasing out the Beechcraft 1900.

While the September 11 attacks severely impacted all U.S. airlines, other events brought about the end of Skyway Airlines. Skyway's plans to continue modernizing its fleet with additional Dornier aircraft unwound when Dornier failed, and parent company Midwest Air Group's financial problems caused it to end Skyway's flight operations.

In 2002, Dornier, an aviation pioneer dating back to the 1930's, became insolvent. Production of the 328JET stopped. This interrupted Skyway's plans to further expand its jet fleet and replace the Beechcraft 1900. AvCraft Aviation, a Virginia-based parts supplier for the 328 turboprop and the 328JET, purchased the production rights for the 328JET from Fairchild Dornier's receivers, and planned to re-establish production of the type. Then AvCraft went bankrupt. This made further growth of the 328JET fleet effectively impossible.

The other regional jets built by Canadair and Embraer had substantial order backlogs, and the training, maintenance and inventory costs of running a small airline with three different aircraft types made another jet purchase financially impractical. Without having an available replacement aircraft, Skyway began to draw down its Beechcraft 1900 fleet, planning to eventually eliminate that fleet.

In March, 2003, Midwest Express Airlines reincorporated and changed its name to Midwest Airlines. Astral Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Skyway Airlines also reincorporated and changed its name, to Skyway Airlines, Inc., d/b/a Midwest Connect. New logos were designed for both airlines' aircraft and uniforms, and the connection between Midwest Airlines and Midwest Connect was made more obvious for marketing purposes.^[1]

In 2006, Midwest Airlines announced that it would obtain additional regional feed from SkyWest Airlines, an independently-owned airline based in St. George, Utah which operated Canadair regional jets. The SkyWest aircraft would also bear the name "Midwest Connect." Midwest announced that it would operate the SkyWest and Skyway operations side-by-side.

In 2006 and 2007, Midwest Air Group also fought off a hostile takeover attempt by rival airline AirTran Airways. Midwest Air Group's leadership persuaded Northwest Airlines and private equity firm TPG Capital to enter the bidding as a white knight. Northwest and TPG purchased Midwest Air Group, with 47% and 53% ownership stakes, respectively.

Following the Northwest Airlines/TPG purchase, Midwest announced on January 16, 2008 that it would terminate all Skyway Airlines flight operations and transfer most remaining Midwest Connect flying to SkyWest, and contract with Great Lakes Airlines to provide code-share feed to a few cities. Skyway's last day of flight operations was April 5, 2008. Midwest announced that it would continue to operate the Skyway Airlines division as a ramp services and catering company for Midwest Airlines and for certain (SkyWest) Midwest Connect operations.^[2] On the last day of flight operations, Skyway Airlines operated 12 328JETs and 4 Beechcraft 1900D aircraft.

Midwest, already in a financially-weakened condition following the September 11, 2001 attacks and the aforementioned takeover battle, suffered another severe financial blow as a result of the 2008 fuel price spike. Midwest's fleet of MD-80 airliners had been well suited to its markets and Midwest's high-service business model during the 1990's, but by 2008 it was no longer fuel efficient as compared with newer aircraft designs. Midwest terminated the leases on those aircraft and returned them to their lessors. Shortly thereafter, as the result of a failed lease renegotiation with Boeing, Midwest also lost the leases on 16 of its 25 newer Boeing 717 aircraft, leaving the airline with only 9 of the 38 aircraft with which it had started the year. On September 3, 2008, Skyway's parent Midwest Airlines announced an agreement to transfer most of its mainline flight operations to another independent regional airline, Republic Airways. Republic agreed to operate 12 76-seat Embraer 170 jets under the Midwest Connect name and provide Midwest $20 million in financing.^[3] As a result, Midwest furloughed 269 of its 399 pilots ^[4] and total employee cuts for the year were approximately 1,850^{[citation needed]}.

On February 2, 2009, Midwest Air Group CEO Tim Hoeksema announced in an internal corporate memorandum that all remaining Skyway functions will be assumed by Midwest Airlines, and that Skyway will cease to exist as a separate entity. No end date for Skyway operations has been announced.

[edit] Destinations

At the end of flight operations, Skyway Airlines flew to 19 destinations in Canada and the United States. The airline's hub was at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport. Most destinations were taken over by SkyWest on April 6, 2008. The remaining few (part of the essential air service program) saw a termination of service.

[edit] Fleet

As of April 5, 2008, the Skyway Airlines fleet included 16 aircraft:

Skyway Airlines Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Economy)	Routes	Notes
Beechcraft 1900	4	19	Commuter	All operated as Midwest Connect
Fairchild-Dornier 328JET	12	32	Commuter	All operated as Midwest Connect

• All Skyway/Midwest Connect aircraft featured leather seating, and jet aircraft featured freshly baked cookies on select routes.

[edit] References

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