YX in-house E170 program in question
 

Aparently among the 59 Midwest people getting laid off the other day, primarily at headquarters, were people who had been working on bringing the E170's on to the Midwest certificate. This was reported by Sideflare, who hsa been a level-headed source of internal information all along. I don't think he himself was part of the 170 workgroup, but he was also among those laid off.

Assuming this is true, it could mean a few different things:

(1) It has been decided that the E170's will not come in house.

(2) The lack of a labor agreement has delayed the project enough that it doesn't make sense to have those people on the payroll until their project can move forward.

If it is (1) that begs the obvious question on what happens IF the rest of the 717's go. That is not a foregone conclusion, and for those who say that clearly Mexicana's desire for 25 aircraft is not conincidentally the number of Midwest's original order, it is indeed conincidence. Mexicana is replacing the 25 Fokker F100's they have...that's where the magic 25 comes from. That being said, it certainly could be that the 717's will be gone in a year or two. What that means if Midwest has no planes on their certificate, I'm not sure.

If it is (2) then if they come to an agreement with labor, the project would resume. If negotiations are not going well, this is something of a "nuclear option" on the part of managment.

I don't think there's any good way to know which one is more in line with what's going on. I don't think anyone anticipated the E170 deal when that came out of left field last fall. Who knows what contingencies they have in mind if any of these speculative things happen. Note that contingencies aren't always good.

If your question is which scenario (1 or 2) might be taking place, I have no clue.

But I can tell you that I've read (and you may have also seen) that the 59 employees laid off were from the Skyway subsidiary (which has been handling ground operations for YX). Apparently, after the recent downsizing, it made no sense to operate a subsidiary anymore, and all Skyway funtions are now being folded in to Midwest.

There are unsubstantiated rumors swirling out there that Republic is going to simply take over all flying and keep the Midwest brand name. I guess it's possible that could happen and the remaining YX employees would handle ground operations, but no one really knows. :confused:

I've read and heard the same thing.

Would SkyWay personnel be working on bringing the E170s in-house?

Is this actually possible? My understanding of FAA certificate rules is that you cannot have a virtual airline of entirely outsourced planes.

It's purely speculation at this point. There is no evidence to back this up, but it's possible that Republic could buy Midwest and its certificate, keep the brand, and fly its own E-jets from Milwaukee. Or, Republic could buy out Midwest and use its own certificate to operate the Midwest brand.

But no one really has a clue at this point. Perhaps there are individuals reading this board that could shed more light on this possibility and the rules/restrictions on acquiring certificates.

Or, Midwest could continue to operate as it has been, and still use other existing employees to work on bringing the E-jet flying in house.

Official memo on layoffs
 

To: All Midwest and Skyway Employees
Date: February 2, 2009
From: T.E. Hoeksema
Subject: Reorganization

In the course of our ongoing restructuring efforts, we continue to look for
opportunities for additional efficiencies and cost reductions. As is the
case for nearly every business today, the economic recession has made this
an even more urgent imperative.

To this end, today we are announcing a reorganization of our workforce that
reflects our 2009 business plan, the current size and scope of Midwest
Airlines and the continuing effects that the recession is having on our
bookings and revenue.

As part of this reorganization, we are realigning a number of functions
which will result in the elimination of positions, mostly in management and
support staff positions, whose functions now overlap as well as positions
that are no longer viable in light of the recession.

We have taken a "blank sheet" approach to this reorganization, closely
examining the roles that each department and position has in the airline as
it operates today. In addition to the necessary cost benefits resulting
from this reorganization, we believe that the organization will function
more efficiently and in a more focused way, moving forward.

The reorganization will affect 59 employees who will be furloughed or who
will be leaving the organization. The actions are effective mid-February
in most instances. Once again, these are painful decisions in terms of
their impact on our employees but necessary for the future of Midwest
Airlines as we manage through this recession.

Following are the major components of the reorganization:

Customer Experience

The reorganization provides a more fully integrated approach to customer
service by realigning various functions into a single Customer Experience
department, whereby a single group within the airline "owns" nearly all of
the touch points that our customers experience. As a result, Skyway will
no longer function as a separate entity but will be folded into the Midwest
organization.


This new department will include Milwaukee hub operations; ramp operations,
airport stations and cargo; customer surveys and insights; reservations
center; airline partner services; commissary operations; the pass bureau;
customer relations; and customer service training. Leo Malloy, in a
newly-created position entitled Vice President, Customer Experience, will
lead this group.

In what I know was a very difficult personal decision, Mary Blundell has
decided to retire from Midwest. Those of us who have worked alongside Mary
know that her commitment, dedication to our customers and selfless approach
to her work over the last 24 plus years will be missed. I would like to
express my sincere thanks to Mary for her leadership and service. I will
truly miss her energy, enthusiasm and passion for customer service
excellence and wish her only the best in new endeavors.

Marketing

A leaner marketing function will continue to include planning, pricing and
revenue management; brand management and advertising; e-commerce and
distribution; and sales. As described previously, the reservation center
has been moved into the Customer Experience group. Due to the negative
impact of the recession and the current scope of our airline, the sales and
distribution functions have been reduced. As a result, Randy Smith, Vice
President of Sales and Distribution, will be leaving Midwest. We thank
Randy for his contributions over his six year career with us and wish him
success in the future.

Greg Aretakis, Vice President, Planning and Revenue Management will
supervise sales and distribution/e-commerce in addition to planning and
revenue management. Jim Reichart, Director of Advertising and Brand, will
continue to supervise these functions as well as Loyalty Programs. Dining
services will be integrated into the inflight group of Flight Operations.

Impact in Other Departments

Skyway human resources as well as worker's compensation and OHS functions
will be folded into the Midwest Human Resources group that Cindy Johnson,
Vice President of Human Resources, will continue to lead.

There are several position reductions in Flight Operations as well as
Maintenance and Engineering. Mark Zweidinger and Wayne Jamroz respectively
will continue to lead these two groups.

The corporate security function will be reduced and will report to Chris
White, Vice President, Safety and Regulatory Compliance moving from Senior
Vice President and General Counsel David Sislowski.

The senior leaders of our newly aligned organization have spoken this
morning with their respective teams about this reorganization and who is
affected. They will continue to share specific information regarding
roles, responsibilities and how we will work together in this new
structure.

While time won't allow me to mention each of the employees who are affected
by this reorganization, I want to express my sincere appreciation for their
dedication and years of service to Midwest Airlines, particularly in these
difficult recent days.

It's 2.

It is 2. Midwest is not going to go to the expense if there is no labor agreement, or if the lack of an agreement causes part of the certification to have to be done twice because of the wait.

And, a pilot was the person laid off from the certification group.

The certification won't continue until the company has a deal. No deal. No E-Jets.

53% + 47%= 100%

No deal, Republic buys it all ?