Some $10.1 million in direct government aid allowed Midway Airlines to reopen for business December 19, but its days as a regional/national hybrid operating Bombardier CRJs alongside its mainline jets appear to be over. Morrisville, N.C.-based Midway began flying five Boeing 737-700s to six East Coast cities last month from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, including Boston, New York La Guardia, Newark, N.J., and Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It has returned all of its remaining fleet of 11 leased CRJs to their owners, and decided to abandon all regional jet flying after concluding that the airplanes’ unit cost would hinder its recovery. Under the new plan, Midway estimates it will cut its unit costs by 30 percent.
Midway CEO Robert Ferguson told AIN that he planned to hire roughly 250 employees for the December 19 startup, then another 50 some time thereafter. He also said he planned to add one more 737 to the fleet by the end of last year, and increase daily departures from 18 to perhaps 26 by March. Midway has renegotiated its contract with the Air Line Pilots Association, which agreed to pay and work-rule concessions with the expectation that many of the revisions would revert to the terms of the original agreement no later than October 1.
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