Midwest sold to Republic

Though the story’s now a couple of days old, it’s worth noting Republic Airways Holdings has purchased Midwest Airlines. The new ownership of Midwest Airlines has said the Midwest Airlines name will remain, some of its jets will still have wide seats, and the airline will have more nonstop routes from Milwaukee. In making the announcement, the future CEO of Midwest, Bryan Bedford, announced the vast majority of Midwest’s 1,640 employees are expected to keep their jobs, but that there will be some cuts. Additionally, Midwest’s union pilots and flight attendants will likely face pay cuts as they are integrated into Republic’s labor contract, which pays lower salaries to its union flight crews.

While it’s sad to see once-proud Midwest get shuffled from owner to owner, I’m glad Midwest will live to fly another day, considering how close the company was to bankruptcy. Hopefully the new ownership group will restore some of the luster that has been lost from Midwest’s once-sterling reputation, because it would be nice to have a “hometown” airline that’s worth flying again.