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.

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...

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.

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.

:D:D:D

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/fligh...&ak=81295.blog

It was inevitable when Timmy ran to Northwest.

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.

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).

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.