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Midwest won't hire pilots back

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GOULET!

Oh look..a bighorn!
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Posts
464
Boy I never saw this coming....:rolleyes:

Midwest suspends plans to hire back flight crews

By Tom Daykin of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Mar. 18, 2009 11:42 a.m.
Midwest Airlines Inc. has suspended plans to hire back laid-off flight crews to operate regional jets the carrier began using last fall.
In September, Midwest hired Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (RJET) to operate Midwest Connect flights previously flown under the Midwest Airlines name. The move came after Republic agreed to provide up to $25 million in financing to Midwest, which helped prevent a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
In hiring Republic, Oak Creek-based Midwest laid off over 200 employees, including union pilots and flight attendants. Midwest said it would rehire the flight crews after they're trained to staff the Republic jets, but only if they accepted substantial pay cuts.
The unions have balked at that demand, so Midwest has suspended plans to train the pilots on flying the Embraer 170 jets, company spokesman Michael Brophy said. Those wage cuts are needed for Midwest to compete effectively, he said.
"Given the state of the economy, and the fact that we have not been able to secure a market-competitive cost structure, we have elected to stop the process," said a company memo to employees.
The pilots union doesn't agree with that decision, said Brian Jandorf, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association's Midwest chapter. He declined to comment further.
An official from the Association of Flight Attendants couldn't be reached for comment.
The unions have requested mediation in their contract talks with Midwest. No further contract talks have been scheduled yet, Jandorf said.
Arbitrators ruled in January that Midwest's hiring of Republic did not violate the company's labor agreements with the pilots and flight attendants unions.
Republic flies a dozen Embraer 170 jets, each with 76 seats, under the Midwest Connect name. Midwest Airlines also contracts with St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Inc. (SKYW) to operate a dozen Bombardier CRJ200 50-seat regional jets under the Midwest Connect name.
Midwest Airlines operates nine 99-seat Boeing 717 jets, which use union pilots and flight attendants.
 
perhaps they want to void our recall rights too.........

fwiw, this is old news since the last round of layoffs where they laid off the 170 Fleet Manager. Tom Daykin is now finally reporting it.
 
Wow, it looks like you all have the same jackals that got you into trouible in the first place back in charge. Since you cannot find a true leader I guess you cannot expect much, huh? Pathetic.
 
Unfortunately, I don't see anyone getting hired back at Midwest anyway. I see no indication that TPG has any desire to actually run an airline, they just want to find a way out that recovers some of their investment. I'm sure that by now TPG wishes they had never gotten involved with NWA to buy Midwest. I can understand NWA wanting to do a deal to block AirTran from having an instant MKE hub but I don't see how TPG thought there was any value in Midwest at the price that they paid for it. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out because it's been a strange (and very sad for the employees) drama up to this point.
 
Dammit, Midex is going under? I just got a Midwest Miles card in the mail, now what am I to do with all those points? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I am furloughed from them too.

Can't those miles be applied toward NWA freequent flyer program?
 
Dammit, Midex is going under? I just got a Midwest Miles card in the mail, now what am I to do with all those points? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I am furloughed from them too.

Can't those miles be applied toward NWA freequent flyer program?

HR sent me card asking if I would be willing to contribute to Schifter and Hoeksema' retirement fund and in return I would receive a bakers dozen of delicious cookies every month for a year. They would obviously be last days batch that were thrown out.

Then I asked about my 5 year recall rights. "We can neither confirm or deny that your CBA will be followed to the T!" I decided to save my dollar!
 
Unfortunately, I don't see anyone getting hired back at Midwest anyway. I see no indication that TPG has any desire to actually run an airline, they just want to find a way out that recovers some of their investment. I'm sure that by now TPG wishes they had never gotten involved with NWA to buy Midwest. I can understand NWA wanting to do a deal to block AirTran from having an instant MKE hub but I don't see how TPG thought there was any value in Midwest at the price that they paid for it. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out because it's been a strange (and very sad for the employees) drama up to this point.
I was at skyway during the summer of 2007 which is when this all went down. Basiclly NWA has wanted MKE for it own for a long time. Every flight in and out on NWA is full. And TPG at the time thougth it was a great investment. Build up the airline and then sell them off to make a buck. But then 2008 hit at all went to hell with fuel prices and the economy. So now basiclly it is buy buy Midex which I have a feeling will happen by the end of this year. It was a great airline at one point, but now they are just like any onther airline out there, except for the cookies which are good. When midwest does go under Delta will swoop in and take MKE for its own.
 
As a former cookie eater, I can attest to the uncaring attitude that prevails from the Cookie Palace. Is anyone surprised that TPG is overseeing the dismantling of Midwest, and dividing up the route structure among future Delta Connection carriers?

I hope Tim and his crew enjoy their special place in Hell.
 
What would Midwest be worth today?

What do the Midwest pilots think about ALPA and their resources?

Tell the Airtran pilots who think that ALPA's resources can provide what they need. You guys have had ALPA, what do you guys think? Airtran pilots are looking for people with real experiences
 

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