SkyWest Tapped to Provide Regional Jet Feed to Midwest

Midwest Airlines, Inc. named SkyWest Airlines to operate its proposed 50-seat regional jet service beginning next April. The new service will use a minimum of 15, and up to 25, Bombardier CRJ-100s as part of the five-year agreement. Flying as Midwest Connect, the SkyWest jets allow Midwest to add new destinations, increase frequency on existing routes and upgrade several regional routes to all-jet service. SkyWest joins Midwest’s wholly owned subsidiary Skyways as a Midwest Connect carrier and adds Midwest Air Group to its current fee-for-departure customers United and Delta. Under the agreement, SkyWest will provide aircraft, flight crews and maintenance services for the 50-seat aircraft. Midwest Airlines will oversee route planning, scheduling, marketing and sales for the new flights. The aircraft will be painted in the Midwest Connect livery. Specific routes from Midwest's Milwaukee and Kansas City bases, as well as schedules, will be announced at a later date. Skyway will continue to operate its fleet of 328JET and Beech 1900 aircraft. The new regional jet program is an essential component of Midwest's growth plans, according to Scott R. Dickson, Midwest Airlines senior vice president and chief marketing officer. The airline's comprehensive long-term business and strategic plans provide Midwest with a capacity increase of 15 percent in 2007 and averaging 10 percent per year over the next three years, as well as significantly greater growth in profitability.