Midwest Airlines Midwest Miles (Pre-Alignment) - YX Name to be gone by Fall 2010?

Just had lunch with a F9 friend of mine, we got on the subject of YX.. She told me that that RJet plans to kill off the YX name completely by fall...
Thoughts???

Read the YX and F9 forums there are already threads on the subject.

They most likely got this information from the Journal Sentinel of Milwaukee, which is again publishing a "story". I would suggest not to take the journal too seriously.

We're still going through the process of brand selection which could include the name and/or what people would like for the onboard product.

Your friend could ultimately turn out to be right, just as your friend could predict rain for a particular date this fall and ultimately be correct or incorrect. She doesn't know any more than any of us.

Tom Daykin at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel took comments from the Republic Q4 call last week and spun them into yet another Midwest-could-be-history story, but it had essentially no new information and specifically nothing which said that the Midwest name would disappear.

In fact, Republic stated that they continue to move to a unified brand and by fall will largely be complete...a single booking engine, a single Sabre platform, a single set of policies, etc. They also said that the unified brand is different than picking one name and replacing the other, or going with one and dropping the second. Nothing in that says the Midwest brand is going away. Personally, I think that statement could open the door to both brands going away, but we shall see.

No matter, however, Daykin's story has gone viral as online proof that the Midwest name is likely gone by fall. I've seen it used as the source material on multiple blogs and message boards. Daykin has previously all but peed himself over the hot scoop that the Midwest brand may be gone...two times before if I recall correctly...without any additional substantial information.

Bottom line...nobody knows if the Midwest or Frontier name is going away or not. It certainly might, or it might be retained in way that links it to the Frontier brand but doesn't retire either one.

No matter, however, Daykin's story has gone viral as online proof that the Midwest name is likely gone by fall. I've seen it used as the source material on multiple blogs and message boards. Daykin has previously all but peed himself over the hot scoop that the Midwest brand may be gone...two times before if I recall correctly...without any additional substantial information.



The only real surprise from Daykin's article was that he didn't have quotes from Michael Boyd or Jay Sorensen.

The only real surprise from Daykin's article was that he didn't have quotes from Michael Boyd or Jay Sorensen.

At least you can still be half-surprised, I guess...

"It's no longer Midwest in products and people," said Jay Sorensen, a former Midwest marketing manager. "It's a small degree to drop the name."

Frontier is a stronger brand name than Midwest, said Sorensen, who operates IdeaWorks, a Shorewood marketing consulting firm. He said Frontier is a better known name throughout the United States than Midwest and that it has a good reputation for customer service.

"But I think that this management team wants to have more control in creating a new brand," Sorensen said about Bedford.

I think Rev BB is getting ready in case the Pilot/FA win a grievance over Republic removing the "connect" stickers from the Midwest airplanes.

Ruling should be in the next two weeks.

The labor contracts state Midwest Pilot/FA will do all the flying for Midwest Airlines. TPG and Rev BB furloughed all the flight crews because the E170 and E190 had "connect" sticker on them. The arbitrator ruled (Jan 2009) Midwest could contract/outsourse the "connect" flying and it was not covered by the Midwest Pilot/FA labor contracts.

The "connect" stickers are off and Rev BB is testing the contracts.





ps. Have to give the guy credit for playing every trick in the book to reduce CASM. He cuts every corner (safety, pilot experience, maintenance) very close to save a dollar... maybe too close.

At least you can still be half-surprised, I guess...

Wow...I honestly don't remember seeing his name in the article at all. I must have stopped reading after noting that Daykin had nothing more than Republic's statement from the earnings call and the "New Air" designation mentioned in the frequent flier surveys.

The only real surprise from Daykin's article was that he didn't have quotes from Michael Boyd or Jay Sorensen.

:D:D:D

ps. Have to give the guy credit for playing every trick in the book to reduce CASM. He cuts every corner (safety, pilot experience, maintenance) very close to save a dollar... maybe too close.

I'm curious to know what you mean when you say that Republic is cutting corners on maintenance. As a long time YX maintenance employee who now works for Republic, (as are most of the maint folks in MKE), I see no real difference in the two maintenance programs. If anything we do checks more often and before they are actually due on the Republic fleet then YX did. What exactly are you basing this statement on? Because frankly it is kinda insulting to those of us who work 24/7 maintaining the aircraft in all kinds of weather so people will have a safe flight. Do you honestly think that the same people who kept YX aircraft safe and airworthy for 25 years suddenly have changed and don't care about what they do for a living because the name on the paycheck has changed? If you do you couldn't be farther from the truth.

It will be good to close the sad chapter and then the book on Midwest airline.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=81295.blog

It was inevitable when Timmy ran to Northwest.

It will be good to close the sad chapter and then the book on Midwest airline.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=81295.blog

Yet another example of Daykin's news-less news spreading as gospel.

Yet another example of Daykin's news-less news spreading as gospel.

While the Journal-Sentinel article is mildly sensational and speculative, I see nothing in it that is inaccurate. I do think that the villification of Daykin is amusing.

While the Journal-Sentinel article is mildly sensational and speculative, I see nothing in it that is inaccurate. I do think that the villification of Daykin is amusing.

That's the point...Daykin's story was sensational and speculative. There was no news in that article at all.

IMO, Daykin is lazy and sloppy with his reporting. His often does not present stories in a fair and balanced manner. My views on Daykin have more to do with his reporting on another Milwaukee area company that I used to be a part of rather than what he writes on Midwest (although I've certainly taken exception to some of his reporting on the airline as well).

That's the point...Daykin's story was sensational and speculative. There was no news in that article at all.


Not entirely the case; he had the quotes from BB's 4th quarter presentation, he had the fact that Republic is conducting a survey. These may have been news to some. While the end state is unknown,the article conveys that it is pretty clear that there are compelling reasons to rebrand.

The quotes from other sources were just opinions and not news, and I took them for that.

I'm curious to know what you mean when you say that Republic is cutting corners on maintenance. As a long time YX maintenance employee who now works for Republic, (as are most of the maint folks in MKE), I see no real difference in the two maintenance programs. If anything we do checks more often and before they are actually due on the Republic fleet then YX did. What exactly are you basing this statement on? Because frankly it is kinda insulting to those of us who work 24/7 maintaining the aircraft in all kinds of weather so people will have a safe flight. Do you honestly think that the same people who kept YX aircraft safe and airworthy for 25 years suddenly have changed and don't care about what they do for a living because the name on the paycheck has changed? If you do you couldn't be farther from the truth.

He has none. Statement is strictly propaganda.

That's the point...Daykin's story was sensational and speculative. There was no news in that article at all.

IMO, Daykin is lazy and sloppy with his reporting. His often does not present stories in a fair and balanced manner. .

I don't see that in his stories, but to each his own. We tend to be too close to the issue many times and when we complain "old news" it may be for us. But, it is not, necessarily, for the general population. I got nothing new from the article. to my next door neighbor it was a revelation. Daykin is writing to him, not us.

I don't see that in his stories, but to each his own. We tend to be too close to the issue many times and when we complain "old news" it may be for us. But, it is not, necessarily, for the general population. I got nothing new from the article. to my next door neighbor it was a revelation. Daykin is writing to him, not us.

Very true. Perhaps my sweeping statements regarding Daykin's reporting went too far. I readily admit that my views on Daykin are colored primarily due to his artcles on another Milwaukee company that I once worked for.

Certainly things can be "old news" to us because we follow things so closely, as opposed to the average reader. However this is a story (Republic may end Midwest name) which JS has reported twice before in recent months. Reporting essentially the same thing again and again...without any substantial new information...may make it seem "new" to casual readers. But that doesn't make it new.

I don't think anything reported as fact was incorrect. But the responsibility and liability (I'm not specifically using that in a legal sense) goes far beyond correct facts.

1. This story was front-page news in the print edition. Not the front page of the business section, but the front page of the entire newspaper. And if I recall correctly, the headline was more salacious than the online version. The story was continued from page 1 onto page 6 or so. On that page was another boldfaced headline (for the continued story) something like “Midwest May Be on Last Wings” accompanied by a graphic of a Midwest plane. The placement and headline choices for the story are not justified by the new content of the article, and seem intended to continue to harm Midwest.

2. The section of the story which contained facts was generally accurate, however lots of people don’t read deeply into stories which are of only passing interest. Headline choice and story placement did damage regardless of how accurate or inaccurate the facts of the story were.

3. The story that the Midwest brand might go away has been reported three times by the Journal Sentinel in the past few months, each time without any real definitive information. The “new” information we got from this conference call was that they have decided not to pick one brand and retire the other. If that had been the headline, or had been the slant of the story, at least it would have been new information. Instead, though they did list the quote which told us that, the headline and the slant did not reflect the new information. This story could (and might as well have been) written 3 months ago, with the new quotes from the Q4 conference call pasted in.

4. The salacious nature of the headline feeds the local news media, including but not limited to the Journal Company’s TV and radio station (WTMJ) who pick up on these sorts of stories and pass them on. Only the depth of print journalism (which at least has some factual material) is missed in the broadcast media, who essentially pass just the headlines on.

5. The final, and perhaps overriding point of responsibility is the decision on what to report as news. I don’t think anything was factually incorrect in the story, but was it a story with enough new information to justify reporting it, and for what reason did they decide to create the story? And how much of the content was opinion, and whose? The Journal Sentinel can’t do much about people only skimming headlines, or that other media feed of their stories, or that things go viral on the web. Their primary responsibility is what they choose to report and how they choose to present it. The Journal Sentinel chose not to report Republic’s order for up to 80 C-series jets, nor did they report on Republic’s earnings, nor did they report on Republic’s financial results for the branded operation. That was news. In contrast, this hand-wringing-Midwest-is-dead story was old news. It was not substantially advanced by any new information. And it was featured and titled in a manner well out of proportion with the “news” aspect of the story.

Obviously that's my personal take on it, but the JS reporting has been an ongoing source of frustration for years when it comes to airlines. I don't think that Daykin so much has it out for Midwest in particular, but rather that he likes to pump up the drama and stir controversy. Certainly he's not the only reporter in the world like this, but he has the misfortune of covering the airline beat in Milwaukee.

Cutting corners too close is summarized in this PBS investigation.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/flyingcheap/etc/synopsis.html


BB is only experienced in Flying Cheap. He has never had to sell one airline ticket in his experience at Mesaba or Republic. His focus is lowering CASMs and that is only half the story at Midwest and Frontier.

"While the Journal-Sentinel article is mildly sensational and speculative, I see nothing in it that is inaccurate."

Most people, including Daykin, seem to think rebranding means renaming. They seem to be having a difficult time accepting that perhaps Bedford isn't going to rename at all.

It is as if Bryan Bedford had said this:

We are going to get to a unified brand.

We need to work in a path of fusing these brands that retains as much customer loyalty as we can.

So we are not going to pick just one brand or the other.

We are going to keep the best of both of what is Frontier and Midwest because both markets are just critical to us and to our long-term success.

We are going to be very deliberate and cautious as to how we unify those brands.

Although we haven't officially decided yet, reading between the lines, it should be obvious to all that We are going to dump both brands.

We will choose a new airline name that none of our Frontier or Midwest customers have ever heard of.

We haven't test marketed any new names; we probably just go with "New Air".

By the way, have you met my son "Junior", or my daughter "Sis"?

We will let our employees know about our new brand and operating plan sometime in March.

At which point we're going to spend more time with our employees.

And make sure that they understand where we are going, and that if they don't like it, they can just go take a hike.

In fact we are counting on it. It saves unemployment benefit costs. We have projected that CASM will be lowered by 1%.


A plan which would quickly engender an agreeable response from Daykin:

"The loss of the Midwest brand name will be of little consequence," said Steve Eichenbaum.

"The brand is dead," Eichenbaum said. "The Midwest brand . . .  isn't going to work for them."

"It's a small degree to drop the name," said Jay Sorensen.

"Frontier is a stronger brand name than Midwest," said Sorensen, "but I think that this management team wants to have more control in creating a new brand."

Eichenbaum said the combined airline might simply be called "Republic", a name that "doesn't mean anything" to Midwest customers.


So, yeah, I guess you could say Daykin's article was accurate, depending on how you read between the lines.

"His focus is lowering CASMs and that is only half the story at Midwest and Frontier."

I wonder why he is bothering with STRETCH seating then.

"His focus is lowering CASMs and that is only half the story at Midwest and Frontier."

I wonder why he is bothering with STRETCH seating then.


Have you heard about any seats coming out?

Very true. Perhaps my sweeping statements regarding Daykin's reporting went too far. I readily admit that my views on Daykin are colored primarily due to his artcles on another Milwaukee company that I once worked for.

You are correct about Daykin and the Journal Sentinel. I work for a company that is the largest in Wisconsin in a particular field of industry. Time after time they slam the company I work for because we are a big target. But now that times are tough they applaud the fact we are still around and actually hiring people. Midwest is/was the only airline based in Milwaukee, so they choose to go with the negative more than the positive when reporting. The headlines were negative but when you read further into the story the big word was "may" and not "will" drop the Midwest Brand.

The other wonderful corollary to these repeated "Midwest is dead" stories is that each one prompts another round of letters from bitter former employees, one or more of which the editorial board usually prints. Here's today's:


Possibly the people of Milwaukee were smarter than Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford ever gave us credit for (Page 1A, Feb. 27).

After you send every pilot and flight attendant to the unemployment line, not to mention the mechanics and corporate staff who have blatantly been replaced by Indiana-based Republic, we show our disapproval by putting our money elsewhere - by flying Air Tran or Southwest.

The name of an airline and the ridiculous cookie will never erase the negative feelings associated with Republic Airways. Milwaukee's economy is paying the price for Republic's ruthless business practices. Thousands of laid-off Midwest employees are still collecting unemployment compensation, food stamps, heating assistance, Title 19 health care, re-education and re-training funds while Republic's management and unions have made no real attempt to get those laid off back to work.

My advice to the employees of Frontier? Get your affairs in order before this happens to you.

Katherine McHugh
Milwaukee


Katherine and others like her have every right to feel bitter and to hold opinions such as these. But how many letters from angry laid off employees has the Journal Sentinel printed, slamming the former employer? Next to none...except Midwest. Obviously the editorial board holds key responsibility for choosing to continue to print these letters. But with very rare exceptions, the letters to the editor are reserved for commentary about topics the paper has recently chosen to report. If today someone was to write a letter to the editor on the topic of, say, a shortage of police officers in West Bend, they'd never print it. But if they recently ran a story about shortages of police offers in general, or about a crime wave in West Bend, then the very same letter to the editor would have a good shot at printing. By rehashing the same Midwest-is-dead story as news, they refresh the cycle of bitter letters to the editor.

There are thousands of people who feel screwed by their former employer these days, some of whom undoubtedly have as much or more reason to wish vengeance on their former employer than these people. But we pretty much only hear of Midwest in the letters to the editor. Repeatedly.

The other wonderful corollary to these repeated "Midwest is dead" stories is that each one prompts another round of letters from bitter former employees, one or more of which the editorial board usually prints. Here's today's:



Katherine and others like her have every right to feel bitter and to hold opinions such as these. But how many letters from angry laid off employees has the Journal Sentinel printed, slamming the former employer? Next to none...except Midwest. Obviously the editorial board holds key responsibility for choosing to continue to print these letters. But with very rare exceptions, the letters to the editor are reserved for commentary about topics the paper has recently chosen to report. If today someone was to write a letter to the editor on the topic of, say, a shortage of police officers in West Bend, they'd never print it. But if they recently ran a story about shortages of police offers in general, or about a crime wave in West Bend, then the very same letter to the editor would have a good shot at printing. By rehashing the same Midwest-is-dead story as news, they refresh the cycle of bitter letters to the editor.

There are thousands of people who feel screwed by their former employer these days, some of whom undoubtedly have as much or more reason to wish vengeance on their former employer than these people. But we pretty much only hear of Midwest in the letters to the editor. Repeatedly.

The Milwaukee media probably thinks their readers want to hear these type of stories, that's why they go with it instead of Republic ordering new planes. And probably their readers do want it. But what this should show Rev. Bedford is that Midwest is damaged goods, and Republic is seen as the bad guy. That's the general feeling, like it or not. Republic is also seen as the bad guy in Denver, regardless if they may have saved Frontier from being stapled to the bottom of Southwest. So, Republic ought to bury Midwest, and not call it Republic either. Call it Frontier, or call it Cabbages, whatever, just bury the damaged and bad brands, and get on with it. The pain will subside, especially with video and cookies, but everytime a "Midwest operated by Republic" flight rolls, it fans flames of discontent that need to be left behind.

1. This story was front-page news in the print edition. Not the front page of the business section, but the front page of the entire newspaper. And if I recall correctly, the headline was more salacious than the online version. The story was continued from page 1 onto page 6 or so. On that page was another boldfaced headline (for the continued story) something like “Midwest May Be on Last Wings” accompanied by a graphic of a Midwest plane.

Can you recall Daykin's headline story from 2007?

Midwest's Cookie Crumbling

I think I emailed him after the takeover failed, he replied, "At the time it appeared the takeover would be successful"

IIRC he offered to discuss it by telephone with me.

I see BB handling of the Midwest employees as a bigger story then you do Knope.

How would Harley-Davidson or Miller Brewing employees react if they were outsourced by bring thousands of workers from say New Mexico to Milwaukee and laying-off all the life-long production employees.

Is could be the next step in corporate america... move the cheap labor to the plant verses building a new plant in Mississippi or Mexico.

Midwest is still flying with no attempts by BB to help/honor the original employees that built Midwest. The fact is these were loyal employees, these were hard working employees, these were employee that provided some of the best customer service in the airline industry, these were very easy going Unions that only asked for industry average wages, and add on top of that the worst economy since the Great Depression.

You don't see the story? Why are you surprised it makes the Milwaukee paper?

You don't see the story? Why are you surprised it makes the Milwaukee paper?

Of course I see the story, and I wasn't surprised it made the paper. At least the first time. Or even the second time.

How would Harley-Davidson or Miller Brewing employees react if they were outsourced by bring thousands of workers from say New Mexico to Milwaukee and laying-off all the life-long production employees.

Does it make much difference if you lose your job by having it moved out of town, or if instead it stays but other workers perform it?

Even if the answer is yes...it's happened thousnds of times before. It's call outsourcing. And it continues to happen.

Midwest is still flying with no attempts by BB to help/honor the original employees that built Midwest. The fact is these were loyal employees, these were hard working employees, these were employee that provided some of the best customer service in the airline industry

Do you think that the thousands of local people who lost jobs in other industries were any more deserving of being laid off than you? And how about the hundreds and hundreds of remaining employees at the airline who also built the brand. Clearly some former employees would like nothing better than to see Republic go down in (methaphorical) flames. That would put all those hundreds of other loyal, hard-working employees that build Midwest and provided some of the best customer service in the airline industry out on the street. Do they deserve that fate?

The sympathy people deserve for suffering a layoff evaporates pretty quickly when the bitterness keeps growing into the outward desire to see others suffer the same fate. To think that your story is somehow so special that it deserves to be dragged through the press again and again and again is to ignore the fate of countless others who no more deserved to be laid off than you did -- people whose stories don't see the light of day once.

Knope, I understand your point of view. Thanks for all the information you posted on Yahoo and FlyerTalk.

Midwest is still flying with no attempts by BB to help/honor the original employees that built Midwest.

I have to respectfully disagree.

All the folks at the ticket counter, the gate agents, the bag handlers, the people who take lost luggage claims aren't the original employees that built Midwest?

There are people still employed who helped build the airline now known as *YX. I'll wager that they would like to hold onto their jobs. The pilots and flight attendants are NOT the entire work force. These people DO want to remain employed. I happen to know that as a fact from first hand conversations with many of them.

It's interesting how they seem to be forgotten in all the hubris.

yx302 on airliners.net said that there might be an announcement today in regards to branding. Republic is having a "State of the Company" webcast today for employees. It maybe nothing or it might be a big deal. We shall see!

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4729632/

reply #145

yx302 on airliners.net said that there might be an announcement today in regards to branding. Republic is having a "State of the Company" webcast today for employees. It maybe nothing or it might be a big deal. We shall see!

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4729632/

reply #145

If you believe what you read on airliners.net, Republic plans to announce the new brand on April 13th. The full roll-out of the brand will take place in October.

If you believe what you read on airliners.net, Republic plans to announce the new brand on April 13th. The full roll-out of the brand will take place in October.

It also indicates that employee surveys will first be sent out next week.

If a new brand were to be announced without feedback from employee surveys, or at least perceived feedback, I could see some real animosity on the part of employees.

It also indicates that employee surveys will first be sent out next week.

If a new brand were to be announced without feedback from employee surveys, or at least perceived feedback, I could see some real animosity on the part of employees.

There's going to be animosity from some employees no matter what happens.

There's going to be animosity from some employees no matter what happens.

Agreed..it will be like selecting a favorite child. Will it be one or none?

It also indicates that employee surveys will first be sent out next week.

If a new brand were to be announced without feedback from employee surveys, or at least perceived feedback, I could see some real animosity on the part of employees.

I'm interested in BB's reception of furloughed YXers. While there are scenarios that keep all YX flight crew furloughed even after SLI is complete, chances are many will be back to work.

It would be nice to at least see some recognition from BB of the employee group that has weathered this merger especially hard.

Creating a new corporate culture and getting the groups to work together towards envisioned goals will be a real test of BB's leadership abilitites. Managing assets is easy. Is he up to the leadership challenge?

More info on yesterday's meetings, courtesy of Denver Post:

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14659642

Now that Republic has secured an order for the C-series, what group of pilots do you think will fly them? From what can remember, the Republic pilots don't have a contract yet for anything greater than 99 seats. There really isn't going to be that much of a difference between the A318/319 and this new C-series, but I bet the rates at which BB and group want the pilots to agree to are going to be quite different. Merging Frontier/Midwest into one brand is going to be interesting to say the least. You can bet that BB and company are going to want the lowest possible wage they can get from each of the unionized groups.

Now that Republic has secured an order for the C-series, what group of pilots do you think will fly them? From what can remember, the Republic pilots don't have a contract yet for anything greater than 99 seats. There really isn't going to be that much of a difference between the A318/319 and this new C-series, but I bet the rates at which BB and group want the pilots to agree to are going to be quite different. Merging Frontier/Midwest into one brand is going to be interesting to say the least. You can bet that BB and company are going to want the lowest possible wage they can get from each of the unionized groups.

Well the Pilot groups at Frontier and Republic are both represented by the Teamsters, which one would think would be a point in favor of a smoother integration.

No doubt about it. C-series is a mainline aircraft;mainline aircraft=mainline wagescale.

Well the Pilot groups at Frontier and Republic are both represented by the Teamsters, which one would think would be a point in favor of a smoother integration.

No doubt about it. C-series is a mainline aircraft;mainline aircraft=mainline wagescale.

Frontier Pilots are represented by th Frontier Airlines Pilots Association....

Its not going to be a smooth transition. The F/A's single carrier status was decided and now Frontier and Lynx are being considered one carrier and RAH and MidWest are being considered another. Its going to be tough to let the F/A's be on two seperate lists while the pilots are on one.

Would it make any sense to pick one name (Midwest or Frontier) over the other? At least one group of employees/customers would be happy. With a totally new name it seems like starting over to a degree, even if you take the best of the two airlines. Or does Republic want to start fresh? Companies spend millions building up brand recognition, seems unusual to drop both names. Sorry if this was mentioned elsewhere, I couldn't find it.

The Denver Post has an article discussing the importance of the name Republic plans to assign to the branded operations next month.

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/03/22/story4.html?b=1269230400%5E3059821

Ian Arthur, Republic's newly appointed Vice President of Branding and Marketing, seems to imply that one of the names (Midwest or Frontier) will be dropped. However, I don't think the door is closed on coming up with a completely new name either (If they do decide to keep one of the brands, my money is on Midwest being toast).

Once the new name is announced April 13th, there will be a large national advertising camapign to promote the unified brand.

The Denver Post has an article discussing the importance of the name Republic plans to assign to the branded operations next month.

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/03/22/story4.html?b=1269230400%5E3059821

Ian Arthur, Republic's newly appointed Vice President of Branding and Marketing, seems to imply that one of the names (Midwest or Frontier) will be dropped. However, I don't think the door is closed on coming up with a completely new name either (If they do decide to keep one of the brands, my money is on Midwest being toast).

Once the new name is announced April 13th, there will be a large national advertising camapign to promote the unified brand.

Please don't flame me, but is there some kind of legal reason not to use Republic, since that's the name of the overall organization? Yes, I was around and actually flew the original Republic back in the day, but seriously, it's not as if it has the same bad connotations as Eastern or Braniff.

Please don't flame me, but is there some kind of legal reason not to use Republic, since that's the name of the overall organization? Yes, I was around and actually flew the original Republic back in the day, but seriously, it's not as if it has the same bad connotations as Eastern or Braniff.

The brand recognition is gone, only a few us that flew back in the days probably remember it.

Things are heating up at Frontier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpNLdEWgWHw

Things are heating up at Frontier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpNLdEWgWHw

Lol - all that's left of Midwest is the cookie, and even they aren't warm all the time anymore.

Lol - all that's left of Midwest is the cookie, and even they aren't warm all the time anymore.


Dude, lighten up and enjoy life.

That was great!!^^^
I think the best line was at the end:
"Someone who liked the taste of success - Not just cookies"

That really sums up the whole story for the lovers of YX.

This should have been one of those "Priceless" videos

Dude, lighten up and enjoy life.

Back at ya', Dude :D

Hilarious :D:D:D:D

Funny....but If I'm a Frontier booster, I'm no so sure I'm flattered by having my leadership portrayed as Hitler.

Funny....but If I'm a Frontier booster, I'm no so sure I'm flattered by having my leadership portrayed as Hitler.

I was thinking the same thing, but I still ended up laughing at the video.

Some more hints may be emerging as to what Republic plans to name the branded operations, courtesy of some "Midwest" employees.

The newest E190 to enter the Republic fleet arrived in MKE last night from the paint shop. However, it is not painted in the traditional Midwest livery. Instead, it is an all white aircraft with blue engines and a blue tail. The Republic logo (circle and stars) is on the tail as well. No other name is included on the plane.

Sounds like it might be Republic, right? After all, the new plane looks a lot like the generic paint scheme they use. However, near the main cabin door is the wording "Operated by Republic." If the new name was going to be Republic, would they still need to have this disclaimer on the side of the aircraft? At first, I thought this might simply be a generic Republic aircraft that can be swapped between Midwest and Frontier. If that's the case, why not have the name on the side of the plane?


Could the new name be Frontier? The animals on the tail are decals and could be applied relatively quickly.

Perhaps it will be something else entirely. I guess we'll have to wait until April 13th.

Some more hints may be emerging as to what Republic plans to name the branded operations, courtesy of some "Midwest" employees.

The newest E190 to enter the Republic fleet arrived in MKE last night from the paint shop. However, it is not painted in the traditional Midwest livery. Instead, it is an all white aircraft with blue engines and a blue tail. The Republic logo (circle and stars) is on the tail as well. No other name is included on the plane.

Sounds like it might be Republic, right? After all, the new plane looks a lot like the generic paint scheme they use. However, near the main cabin door is the wording "Operated by Republic." If the new name was going to be Republic, would they still need to have this disclaimer on the side of the aircraft? At first, I thought this might simply be a generic Republic aircraft that can be swapped between Midwest and Frontier. If that's the case, why not have the name on the side of the plane?


Could the new name be Frontier? The animals on the tail are decals and could be applied relatively quickly.

Perhaps it will be something else entirely. I guess we'll have to wait until April 13th.

Actually after looking through some pictures it appears all Republic aircraft in "house colors" have that decal near the main door. I don't know why as I agree it would seem redundant, but it sadly does not appear to give us a clue.

It has to have that sticker identifying the airline who operates the aircraft by rule. The generic 170's have it because the name on top of the fuselage is Republic Airways. Since Republic Airways is not an operating airline there needs to be something indicating who is doing the flying. Just like all the ones painted in Midwest colors.

I don't know about you but I think we might be seeing the last of those blue planes.:(

Actually after looking through some pictures it appears all Republic aircraft in "house colors" have that decal near the main door. I don't know why as I agree it would seem redundant, but it sadly does not appear to give us a clue.

You're right about the "Operated by Republic" being on the generic aircraft, but I'm guessing those were not E190s. Unless scope restrictions have been relaxed at one of the legacy airlines, Republic only flies the E190 for Midwest/Frontier flights. Nevertheless, Republic may still have to disclose this fact even though they own both brands.

The plane does appear to be in the "house colors" of Republic. The only strange thing was that the "Republic" title was not on the aircraft at all. Perhaps there's a perfectly valid reason as to why this is (the plane did just come from the paint shop-is the Republic Airways name a decal???). The red and blue stripes are also missing.

Maybe I'm simply over-analyzing the situation.

You're right about the "Operated by Republic" being on the generic aircraft, but I'm guessing those were not E190s. Unless scope restrictions have been relaxed at one of the legacy airlines, Republic only flies the E190 for Midwest/Frontier flights. Nevertheless, Republic may still have to disclose this fact even though they own both brands.

The plane does appear to be in the "house colors" of Republic. The only strange thing was that the "Republic" title was not on the aircraft at all. Perhaps there's a perfectly valid reason as to why this is (the plane did just come from the paint shop-is the Republic Airways name a decal???). The red and blue stripes are also missing.

Maybe I'm simply over-analyzing the situation.

No, I think you're right, I am just dumb and didn't think about the interchanging of the E170s and lack of need on that front for the 190s. It will be a sad day when/if the YX colors are gone.

Per the DOT "Operated by Republic" must be on every aircraft and in every announcement that is being worked for a codeshare. It doesn't matter if the codeshare is owned by the parent company or not. Republic Airways Holdings purchased Frontier and MidWest. Republic Airlines operates as Frontier and MidWest.

As far as i know they were wanting a generic airplane for our charter operation.

I just saw a picture of the new E190 on airliners.net.... I just wonder if they are going to add the Republic decals and keep it a generic plane.

I just saw a picture of the new E190 on airliners.net.... I just wonder if they are going to add the Republic decals and keep it a generic plane.

Since there has been no announcement it will most likely remain a generic plane. I don't think they will futz with it much more until after the 13th.

I just saw a picture of the new E190 on airliners.net.... I just wonder if they are going to add the Republic decals and keep it a generic plane.

I'm sure they will use it as a generic plane (it's already in revenue service) but there is more than just the "Republic Airways" decals missing :)