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midwest is dead

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flying zephyr

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Posts
86
If you are a manager, please communicate this information to employees
without e-mail in a timely manner, and in a way that is effective for your
work group (i.e. shift briefings, mailbox distribution, one-on-one,
bulletin boards). Thank you.


To: All Midwest and Skyway Employees
Date: September 3, 2008
From: T.E. Hoeksema
Subject: Restructuring Progress

I am pleased to announce significant progress in our restructuring plan and
$60 million in additional financing, including commitments from TPG Capital
and Republic Airways Holdings, an Indianapolis-based airline holding
company.

A portion -- $40 million -- of the additional financing has already been
funded, with an additional $20 million to be funded upon completion of
certain milestones in our voluntary restructuring plan. This financing
provides us the best opportunity to preserve what our customers have always
valued from our airline, while positioning us for a return to sustained
profitability and future growth. Under this agreement, Northwest Airlines
will continue its codeshare and frequent flyer programs with us.

As part of the financing agreement, Republic has entered into an airline
services agreement with Midwest to operate 12 Embraer 170 jets under the
Midwest Connect brand. Republic will operate the 76-seat Embraer 170s until
we can transition the fleet under our own certificate. The Embraer 170
service will be introduced into Midwest Connect's schedule throughout the
fall, beginning October 1.

I am also pleased to tell you that we have reached an agreement in
principle with Boeing Capital Corporation on renegotiated leases for our
fleet of Boeing 717s. Under the terms of the agreement, we will continue to
fly nine of the original 25 Boeing 717s we had under lease for our mainline
fleet, returning 16 to Boeing this fall.

We plan to continue negotiating with the unions representing our pilots and
flight attendants on concessions necessary to align our labor costs to the
marketplace, in order to meet one of the final goals of our restructuring
plan. The airline services agreement with Republic will result in
additional furloughs for Midwest pilots, flight attendants and maintenance
staff until we can operate the Embraer 170 fleet on our own FAA operating
certificate. We expect this process, which includes training for its flight
crews and maintenance staff, will take eight months to a year.

I recognize the difficulty this presents to our flight crews and
maintenance staff, who will experience additional temporary furloughs. We
informed union leadership of our plan and advised them that this was the
best option to keep our airline viable and that in the best interests of
our employees, customers and communities, we need them to come to the table
on cost reductions so we can obtain certification and bring the jobs back
to Midwest.

As you know, our restructuring has focused on a strategy to serve our core
business markets, cost reductions necessary to address high jet fuel prices
and a soft economy, and revenue enhancement actions. Revenue enhancement
actions that are part of our restructuring include the introduction of
Midwest Class seating on our Boeing 717 fleet, which was announced last
week, as well as a $15 fee for the first checked bag and an increase in the
second checked bag fee from $20 to $25. Those fees will apply to tickets
purchased on or after September 4 for travel October 21 and beyond.

I'd like to emphasize that our commitment to customer service and focus on
nonstop flights to key business markets will continue. Operating a more
fuel-efficient, flexible mix of aircraft makes good economic sense in this
new energy environment for the airline industry. We have had to make
difficult decisions as part this restructuring that have resulted in change
for our airline. But our strategy of offering nonstop service to key
business markets and giving our customers what they have always valued
about the Midwest brand -- what we were built on -- will not change.

Please join me in welcoming Republic Airways as a new partner with TPG in
Midwest Airlines. Thank you.

Unreal, what a fubar'd industry. Welcome to the end
 
Every single pilot should quit. You will all be out of a job soon anyway as the snot nose pukes on the rjs take more and more of your flying. Quit now and all at once. It is better to die standing than live on your knees.
 
RAH is doing the same thing that Air Willy did when US was in deep sh*t! Pay to play baby!!
 
Who else thinks NWA played a major role in this deal? They own a good portion of Midwest, it has been strongly rumored that they are looking at the 717 as a possible replacement for the DC-9, and there will suddenly be a great deal of them on the market. I mean, does anyone in their right mind honestly think that a airline operating 9 717s and 12 E170s stands any sort of a chance in this economic environment of fuel prices and low demand? The only real question is should Republic waste their time painting those 170s purple or should they just paint them in the new Delta livery?
 
Who else thinks NWA played a major role in this deal? They own a good portion of Midwest, it has been strongly rumored that they are looking at the 717 as a possible replacement for the DC-9, and there will suddenly be a great deal of them on the market. I mean, does anyone in their right mind honestly think that a airline operating 9 717s and 12 E170s stands any sort of a chance in this economic environment of fuel prices and low demand? The only real question is should Republic waste their time painting those 170s purple or should they just paint them in the new Delta livery?

I DO!!! and like I said in the other post!!!!

therir about to make a Masterpice!!!:puke:
 
An Apology to Midwest pilots:

As a pilot for RAH, I am truly disgusted by the deal that was presented to us this evening. Our Union was never contacted during the negotiation process of this new contract, which means we did not know it was coming. Such lack of communication is in violation of our CBA. We do not want to see your airline be decimated and/or forced into concessions by a deal we as a pilot group detest.

Please understand that a significant majority of our pilot group is thoroughly sickened by the terms of this new agreement. It threatens to destroy a good airline who we never had direct competition with, it quite possibly violates our own CBA on multiple levels, it puts hundreds of hard working, respectable pilots on the street, and it appears to hurt BOTH of our airlines while furthering the agenda of NWA. Without a doubt, there may be a handful of pilots in our group who look to this as a great deal, but 95% of us can see all the evils contained in the fine print.

We at RAH will do everything within our legal rights to make this deal does not go forward. We DO NOT want to be your whipsaw....

...as an aside, say what you will about RAH, but competing head to head with other fee per departure airlines for business is not whipsaw. If your regional airline's union told you it was, they were wrong. But being used to break the backs of a non-competing carrier is totally different...

....WE DO NOT want to carry the burden of knowing we took your jobs. We DO NOT want to help NWA dismantle a great airline.

Please set aside the anger you feel towards our pilots for now. We did not see this coming, and we want to help stop it in it's current form. We are furloughing, you are furloughing, you are losing aircraft, and this deal will take away our aircraft. No one will win except those who have won millions a year already at our expense.

Help us help you and our profession as a whole. Please communicate openly with us in a constructive manner when you see us in the terminal. please talk to our union, and give them guidance. No disrespect intended to our leadership, but this is beyond their scope of experience. We need to collaborate to stop this deal. Let us know what we can do. PM me if you want to relay any info more discreetly.

Good luck. Remember we stand to lose a lot in this deal, too. WE ARE ON YOUR SIDE. WE THE PILOTS ARE NOT ON THE LEVEL WITH OUR MANAGEMENT!

Fraternally,
Minimaniac
 
This all sounds so familiar. Financing comes in two tranches. The first of which is necessary to survive, the second is necessary to hang over the heads of labor to squeeze every ounce of blood out of the stone. "We need these cuts to meet certain covenants, and without draconian labor cuts they won't lend us the money". Can't these geniuses come up with something more original.

On the other hand, if it works every time without fail then why stop doing it.
 
Who else thinks NWA played a major role in this deal? They own a good portion of Midwest, it has been strongly rumored that they are looking at the 717 as a possible replacement for the DC-9, and there will suddenly be a great deal of them on the market. I mean, does anyone in their right mind honestly think that a airline operating 9 717s and 12 E170s stands any sort of a chance in this economic environment of fuel prices and low demand? The only real question is should Republic waste their time painting those 170s purple or should they just paint them in the new Delta livery?

Uh...what? NW has over 90 DC-9s. There will not be enough 717s on market to replace them and why would they replace them with a plane that is not made anymore? Why are you still breathing?
 
Who else thinks NWA played a major role in this deal? They own a good portion of Midwest, it has been strongly rumored that they are looking at the 717 as a possible replacement for the DC-9, and there will suddenly be a great deal of them on the market. I mean, does anyone in their right mind honestly think that a airline operating 9 717s and 12 E170s stands any sort of a chance in this economic environment of fuel prices and low demand? The only real question is should Republic waste their time painting those 170s purple or should they just paint them in the new Delta livery?


I don't think NWA would consider 16 aircraft to be "a great deal of them on the market", with a DC-9 replacement in mind. Guessing NWA would need those 16 and all AirTrans 717's to match the number of DC-9's they have now.
 

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