I received an e-mail today asking to participate in a study about Midwest's Brand and service....They only were doing it one day, and I am unfortunately out of the country, and cannot do it...I am really mad I can't partake because I would love to talk to them about killing off their signature service which has made them so respected among other airlines...did any of you receive this email? are any of you doing and and can let us know how it goes?



thanks!

You should ask them if someone on here can take your spot because that would be a great question to ask

The reason that they are killing of signiture service (especially in MKE) is because 1) Boeing is not making the 717 any more and 2) to have 2X2 seating on a MD-80 would not be profitable unless the prices were extreemly high. When Midwest orders new aircraft they will either be a a319 or a 737 and they will NOT take a row of seats out. Signiture service is a thing of the past. Airtran's CEO said it. The way that Boeing and Airbus are making planes also confirms it.

I understand your frustration but signiture service will eventually turn into first class on Midwest (unless airtran takes over them first).

Embraer also makes planes, and I'm not ruling out 2x1 seating on an E190 or 195.

Yeah but I am guessing that that is a regional jet

Tim,

You should try one sometime. jetBlue flies them, as does the Republic group. Here's some general info:

http://www.embraercommercialjets.com...ela=ergonomics

The only similarity between the Embraer E-Series aircraft (EMB-170, 175, 190, and 195) and a 'regional jet' is that they only have four seats across. The Embraer E-Series aircraft have the most comfortable coach class seating of any narrow body aircraft flying right now in my opinion. These aircraft in no way resemble what is commonly thought of as a 'regional jet', they basically resemble a 2/3 scale 737 or A319.

I'm not sure if it is a thing of the past, thats why I am asking if anyone else was provided this survey. Prior to giving me the interview contact info, I was asked two questions online.

1) Overall, how satisfied are you with the services currently provided by Midwest Airlines?

I said Somewhat Satisfied

2) In the past 12 months, would you say that your satisfaction with Midwest has:

I said Decreased...

This is about their brand and advertising...I think they are researching these new planes very closely...I hope that they are trying to regain those passengers who are disappointed with their recent moves with saver service and the new regional jets...Part of me really doesn't think that signature is gone...if it is, I think every aircraft flying in blue needs to have a signature service cabin that execs get automatic space available upgrades...

This reminds me very much of a detailed survey I took a year or two ago. Basically, the Midwest survey was a series of questions regarding different cabin lay-outs, on-board amenities, and how much I'd be willing to pay for different products. I got the distinct impression that Midwest was collecting information for the Saver Service aircraft replacements. One of the questions in particular asked about my opinion on having a 2x2 seating section on the MD80s.

Shortly after I took that survey, word began leaking that Midwest was looking at replacing the MD80s with 737s or A320s. Then, last December word came that the MD80s would get a few rows of 2x2 seating. I suspect Midwest is going through the same process again before making a final decision on new aircraft purchases.

First, a minor correction. One of the planes Midwest is looking at for the MD80 replacement is the A320, not the A319.

Again, I don't think you can say Midwest is killing-off Signature Service. All 25 of the 717s remain in 2x2 seating and management remains committed to that product offering. The 2x2 seating works on higher yielding business routes. Places like Florida and Las Vegas are about as low yield as you can get and the economics of the 2x2 seating just aren't there. It works okay on the leisure routes if you have planes full of O&D traffic, but even then the profitability is somewhat suspect.

Just because Joe Leonard said Signature Service is a thing of the past doesn't make it so. He seems to have enough problems making his own LCC solidly profitable.

The fact that Boeing is not making the 717 anymore has nothing to do with the viability of Signature Service. Once the MD80 replacements start coming on-line, more 717s will be freed-up to start more business oriented routes.

No one has ever said Midwest will be removing an entire row of seats from the new planes, either. Even if they did, that would still leave the 2x3 seating. What they most likely will do is have an expanded 2x2 seating area (perhaps 30 seats or so) with the rest in the traditional Saver seating arrangement.

oh forgot...for taking part in this interview, they offered $100....nobody else got this?!

Yeah, but how long will the 717's last. The 320 will not be signiture service either. Signiture service will disapeer. Look at MKE. Half of the mainline destinations (including Denver and flights to MCI) are saver service and Midwest has the range to fly the 717 to those destinations.
Midwest my be profitable now but they are not making huge gains. Thus, they cannot be considered competitive when compared to other airlines. Airtran, Jetblue, Frontier, Alaska are all considered major carriers because their profits exceed 1 billion dollars. The question becomes how long can Midwest stay Midwest in this type of enviornment without change. Midwest plan for staying competitive relies on no competition at Mitchell, fuel costs low and southwest not adding flights like crazy in MCI. Midwest Air does not have enough planes to scare off other airlines from MKE for too long. Midwest can either grow rapidly like SW, Frontier and Airtran or they are putting the their future in the of events that our outside of their control which is not smart.

One more thing: Midwest is not consistantly profitable either.

Considering that Midwest is ADDING rows of 2x2 seating to the Saver Service planes, I would say that far from "killing" Signiture Service, YX is growing the routes that it is offered on!

I checked my email; no offer here

FYI that survey was discussed in this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=487058