davywavy

Um - Midwest died a long time ago, before Republic/Frontier took charge..

I guess I'm a disruptive element here. I thought it was a Frontier board, I didn't realize it was a Midwest/MKE board.

I wish you all nothing but the best. As I said, you have Southwest - be happy.

Hooroo. :-)

davy

knope2001

Here they are...

0550 DEN
0714 LGA
0715 MCO
0720 IND
0835 BNA
0840 OMA
0859 DEN
1235 CMH
1247 RHI
1420 DEN
1425 OMA
1430 DCA
1520 BNA
1551 LGA
1605 IND
1905 DEN
1915 RHI
1925 CMH

Dick Ginkowski

The list is scary. One DCA flight? That was one of the solid routes. It will also vanish with no early AM departure. The above list gives MKE pax virtually no reason to be loyal to F9.

BlueHorseShoe2000

You keep saying this (here and on other forums) but I have to respectfully disagree.

When Republic acquired Midwest, the news coverage in the mainstream media was overwhelmingly positive. It was the same when Republic announced that they were dropping the Midwest name, when the badger was unveiled for one of the E190 tails, etc. Republic and Frontier certainly weren't portrayed as the Midwest killer as you like to say.

As for Rovito and Sorenson, they've had an axe to grind against Midwest long before Republic entered the picture. Sorenson and his wife both worked at Midwest at one point in time (I believe she was fired). In recent years, Sorenson's consulting business has done a fair amount of work for AirTran. He's hardly an objective source but tends to be the go to guy for the local media.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has actually treated Frontier better than Midwest in its coverage. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, the Journal Sentinel wasn't always so kind in its portrayal of Midwest (some of that negative coverage was rightfully deserved).

With all of that said some of the blame for the collapse of Frontier in MKE is due to mismanagement on the part of Republic (using the wrong aircraft on the wrong routes, a poor revenue management strategy, etc.) They deserve to take some flak in the media for this as those decisions have caused the loss of a thousand + jobs and will have a negative impact on the local economy.

BlueHorseShoe2000

This is indeed a Frontier board. Since Midwest was merged into Frontier and a hub operation existed in MKE until recently, talking about both is fair game IMO. It seems the ghosts of Midwest still linger.

I don't have a horse in this race anymore. Like you, I have said from the outset that the situation in MKE was not sustainable long-term. It's finally getting sorted out - not in the way I thought - but it's being sorted out nonetheless. In the long run, I think MKE may be better off without a true hub airline (look at RDU as an example).

However, I think we need to acknowledge that there are many MKE based individuals who participate in this forum (both travelers and employees) who will be significantly impacted by all of these changes. While you bring an interesting and provocative perspective to this board, I think it's a bit dismissive to tell these same people that they're lucky to have Southwest.

Tim34

So where do we go from here? Will Delta add more MKE flights? Will American go back to mainline service on MKE-DFW? Will new airlines enter the market? Will WN go in for the kill and add more flights to get Frontier completely out of the market?

Dick Ginkowski

The mergers are killing MKE, to be sure, with no competition between Southwest and AirTran for example and Frontier essentially pulling out. I anticipate the feeder routes will soon be gone -- what will they have to feed into?

I think Frontier needs to make one more cut, though. Bedford.

mke9499

This message, first displayed on Feb 9, is still on F9's website today, Feb 11.

MikeFromMKE

I doubt we'll see too much action right away. I think there will be a settling period until F9 is fully sorted out. Like many have mentioned the ERJ routes still need to be sorted out, but they may wait until Fall if they think they can turn a profit on them. Unfortunately it looks like the future has a lot more connections for us MKE folk.

Bedford isn't the CEO of Frontier anymore. These recent decisions had the approval (and possibly influence) of the new President and CEO David Siegel.

mke9499

Just a reminder as to the exact scenario...

1. RJET bought YX
2. RJET bought F9
3. Decision made by RJET to name combined Midwest+Frontier "Frontier"

Frontier did not buy Midwest.

A great number of the regular participants on this board were active partipants on the Midwest forum, prior to the name change and merging of the two boards. A good number of F9 customers are based or travel frequently to/thru MKE.

The profound changes being made by RJET/F9 will impact a great number of these fliers, and thus, impact Frontier. The posts here have been totally relevant.

BlueHorseShoe2000

It's a good question.

I think we need to wait and see what Southwest does in MKE. At the moment they can't pull BOS, LGA, or DCA because those routes carry so much connecting traffic for MSP, West Coast, etc. It will be interesting to see what happens once (if) a codeshare with AirTran is added and the integration/network rationalization kicks into high gear.

Besides Southwest, there is an opportunity for new carriers to enter the market or existing carriers to add capacity.

Should Southwest end MKE-BOS, I think JetBlue might enter the market and perhaps add a few flight to NYC, Florida, etc.

For existing carriers, I wouldn't be surprised to see U.S. Airways increase PHL service (both in frequency and equipment upgauges) and American to reinstate some mainline service. Perhaps they'd finally add MIA flights as well. U.S. Airways would likely add DCA service if Southwest pulls out as well.

Delta is probably best positioned to take advantage of Frontier's pullbacks. I've heard that they plan on putting 757s back in MKE and possibly adding more DTW flights or even reinstating SLC. They have access regional jet lift so maybe we'd see a few point to point routes.

Most of the smaller regional markets are likely gone forever.

The worst case scenario would be if Southwest decided to scale back significantly but I don't think that is likely at this point.

btr

Perhaps this is slightly off-topic, perhaps not. If you consider it so, my apologies.

There are, perhaps, a lot of MKE and (former) YX folks on this board, but I'm not one of 'em. The only flying to MKE that I've done has involved a car and an interstate highway, and that was a long time ago

Anyway, it is always sad to see contraction and to see hopes and dreams go awry, but at another level, I think also that it is a natural part of the cycle of life. While service at MKE is waning, other service is ramping up.

I think that the question of F9's survival is a far different question and of greater scope than the nature of its presence at MKE. As distressing and inconvenient as it surely will be for those of us who frequent MKE, I think that it is unavoidable that F9 must do what it can to be profitable or the entire airline will cease to exist.

My 2¢, worth every penny of what you paid for 'em.

Tim34

I agree. I do not see WN cutting back anytime soon. I was pleasantly suppressed to see MKE-SEA,SFO and LAX stay. With frontier gone MKE is theirs for the taking. I hope they can find a way to expand service. I was in Milwaukee a few months ago and that city really needs companies to invest in it. The north side looks worse today then it did in 1993. Thats great news about Delta. Maybe they will also add MKE-LAX. They have been expanding their operations at LAX.

MikeFromMKE

Not off topic at all. Can't disagree at all that F9 needs to do what it can to survive, and I think much of my disappointment is more that MKE couldn't make it work. F9/RJET gave it a try, expanded service, and couldn't make it work. My fear all along has been MKE will actually have even less service in a few years as no one has been able to make it very profitable.

Daze

I said Midwest EXPRESS, where I was cracking crab claws between DEN and MKE. Some fine memories.

Midwest, however, hung on until Republic/Frontier took charge.

The word Express has a different meaning on this forum, as the MKE crew will understand.

Daze