Air Midwest

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the regional airline that was based in Wichita, KS. For the article regarding the renamed Midwest Express (based in Milwaukee, WI), see Midwest Airlines.
Air Midwest
IATA
ICAO
Callsign
ZV AMW AIR MIDWEST
FoundedMay 1965 (as
Parent company
Mesa Air Group, Inc.
Headquarters2230 Air Cargo Rd, Wichita, Kansas
Key peopleJonathan G. Ornstein (CEO) Michael J. Lotz (President & CFO)
Websitemesa-air.com

Air Midwest, Inc., was a

Braniff (1983-1990) and Ozark Air Lines in addition to flying for Mesa Airlines. Air Midwest was shut down by its parent company, Mesa Airlines
, in June 2008.

History

Air Midwest was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in May 1965 by Gary Adamson as Aviation Services Inc. Using a single Cessna 206, Adamson transported human remains for area mortuaries. Later, Aviation Services held out for charter and in 1967 began scheduled service flying between Wichita and Salina.[2]

As

Swearingen Metroliner commuter propjets. By then Air Midwest was linking smaller cities throughout Kansas
to Wichita, Kansas City, MO, and Denver, CO.

With airline deregulation in late 1978 Air Midwest saw many more expansion opportunities and made a bold move by ordering ten more Metroliners. On March 1, 1979, Air Midwest began operating several new routes in New Mexico formerly flown by Texas International Airlines. This new service to New Mexico was connected to the Kansas operations by serving

Johnson County Industrial Airport (LXT)) with Metro propjets.[4]

On May 1, 1985, Air Midwest merged with Scheduled Skyways, a

Republic Airlines' Memphis hub. Air Midwest would expand by acquiring routes in Arkansas to complement its existing routes in the midwest. Both carriers operated Metro propjets, and Air Midwest had an opportunity to win a codeshare agreement with Republic.[citation needed
] However, Republic then picked a different air carrier to feed its Memphis hub. Meanwhile, Air Midwest subsequently discovered many hidden problems with the neglected fleet inherited from Scheduled Skyways, forcing the airline to perform a great deal of maintenance to keep the aircraft flying. The merger with Scheduled Skyways pushed Air Midwest to the verge of bankruptcy over the few years that followed.

On April 1, 1985, Air Midwest introduced the 30-seat Saab 340 turboprop aircraft with flights from Kansas City to Wichita, Omaha, and Manhattan, KS. By the end of 1985 the airline was operating five Saab 340's and 24 Metroliners.

Although Air Midwest was unsuccessful in gaining a codeshare with Republic through the Scheduled Skyways merger, it was able to acquire codeshare agreements in 1985 with

Eastern Airlines as Eastern Air Midwest Express at the Kansas City and Wichita hubs and in 1986 with Ozark Air Lines as Ozark Midwest at that carriers' St. Louis hub, as well as with American Airlines as part of the American Eagle (airline brand)
at their newly created Nashville hub.

Continuing money problems forced Air Midwest to sell its

Salina, KS.[6]

By June 1988, Air Midwest had built up the Kansas City hub with 89 flights per day to 20 cities, all operating as

Braniff (1983-1990)
, as Braniff was now building up Kansas City as a hub. The Braniff Express operation took over by October 1, 1988, however, just over one year later, Braniff once again went into bankruptcy and suspended operations on November 6, 1989.

After the collapse of Braniff, Air Midwest went back to operating under their own branding at Kansas City until yet another new codeshare agreement was negotiated, this time with

USAir Express beginning on January 15, 1991. USAir changed its name to US Airways in 1997 and the US Airways Express
operation at Kansas City continued until June 30, 2008.

Beechcraft 1900D aircraft. In 2001 all Mesa Airlines flights operating with Beech 1900D's at the Albuquerque and Phoenix hubs were transferred to the Air Midwest certificate.[7]

A book on the history of Air Midwest entitled "Pioneer of the Third Level" was written by Dr. Imre E. Quastler, an authority on regional airlines. This book thoroughly covers the early years of Air Midwest from 1965 through 1980.

Destinations in 1970

Air Midwest was serving the following destinations as an independent commuter air carrier in 1970:[8]

  • Colby, KS
  • Colorado Springs, CO
  • Denver, CO
  • Dodge City, KS
  • Garden City, KS
  • Great Bend, KS
  • Hays, KS
  • Hutchinson, KS
  • Kansas City, MO
    - Focus city
  • Liberal, KS
  • Omaha, NE
  • Pueblo, CO
  • Topeka, KS
  • Wichita, KS
    - Hub & airline headquarters

Destinations from 1979 through early 1985

Air Midwest independently served the following destinations between 1979 and early 1985 (prior to the merger with Skyways) with all flights being operated with Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (Metro II SA-226 model) commuter propjets at this time:[9]

In 1984 Air Midwest briefly operated new service from the

Kansas City Downtown Airport.[10]

Operations under Mesa Air Group

Mesa Air Group acquired Air Midwest in 1991.[11] From 1991 until 1997, Air Midwest operated twelve

Beechcraft 1900C commuter turboprops flying from its Kansas City hub as USAir Express. In 1997, Mesa Air Group underwent a corporate reorganization: Mesa Airline's FloridaGulf, Liberty Express
, and Independent divisions were merged into Air Midwest.

Air Midwest operated to many smaller cities for

New Orleans
.

On January 8, 2003, Air Midwest had its first fatal accident when Air Midwest Flight 5481 operating as US Airways Express and departing out of Charlotte for Greenville-Spartanburg crashed 37 seconds after takeoff. All 19 passengers and two crewmembers were killed in the accident.

For a period of three weeks in August 2006, Air Midwest operated as

John F. Kennedy Airport to Providence, Rhode Island, and Windsor Locks, Connecticut, as a stop-gap measure for Freedom Airlines, another subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, until it was relieved by Chautauqua Airlines
.

On February 1, 2007, Air Midwest began operations at

Marion, and Quincy. However, just nine months after beginning this service, Mesa Airlines
announced that Air Midwest would end all service from Illinois on November 9, 2007.

In May 2007, Air Midwest, operating as America West Express on behalf of America West Airlines, requested that the FAA allow it to withdraw service from the regional airport in Vernal, Utah, (a service that had started only one year prior) as soon as a replacement carrier was approved. On Oct. 4, 2007, the federal Department of Transportation announced that Great Lakes Airlines would replace Air Midwest as the Essential Air Service carrier at the Utah airports in Vernal and Moab. At the same time, the Department of Transportation announced that SkyWest Airlines would replace Air Midwest as the Essential Air Service carrier at Cedar City.

A report published in

Jonathan G. Ornstein that the company had decided to shut down Air Midwest, citing significant losses stemming from increased maintenance and fuel costs. All cities served by Air Midwest received notices of intention to end service, except for Prescott and Kingman, Arizona.[12] Mesa later announced plans to completely shut down the Air Midwest subsidiary, with all services to be terminated by June 30, 2008.[13]
At the time of its shutdown, there were 20 airplanes in service, down from a high of 118.

The last two flights flown by Air Midwest were Flights 4679 and Flights 4681. Both departed on June 30, 2008, at 10:40pm from Kansas City International (MCI) to Joplin, Missouri (flt. 4679) and Columbia, Missouri (flt. 4681).

Incidents and accidents

Fleet

As of February 2008, Air Midwest operated the following turboprop aircraft type:

Air Midwest Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers Routes
Beechcraft 1900D 11 19 All

Previous regional and commuter aircraft operated by Air Midwest included:

All of the above are twin turboprop aircraft with the exception of the Cessna 402 which is a twin engine piston powered aircraft.

MesaMax

MesaMax applied to Mesa Airlines flights that were operated by Air Midwest. It consisted of a card, upon which flights were recorded with a stamp. Once 16 stamps had been recorded, the card could have been redeemed for a single round-trip ticket on Mesa Airlines flights.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "uipl_3002c2a3.html." United States Department of Labor. Retrieved on May 26, 2009.
  2. ^ Book: "Pioneer of the Third Level" by I.E. Quastler
  3. ^ Air Midwest timetables
  4. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Sept. 1, 1984 Air Midwest route map
  5. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Dec. 15, 1989 Official Airline Guide (OAG), St. Louis flight schedules
  6. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, 1990 Air Midwest/Trans World Express route map
  7. ^ "Air Midwest Gets Mesa Bid". The New York Times. January 25, 1991. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  8. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Jan. 1, 1970 Air Midwest route map
  9. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, June 1, 1981 Air Midwest system timetable
  10. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 20, 1983 & Sept. 1, 1984 Air Midwest route maps
  11. ^ "Air Midwest, Inc." Mesa Air Group. April 4, 2003. Retrieved on May 26, 2009.
  12. ^ Kardos, Donna (2008-01-14). "Mesa Air Swings to a Loss Amid Surging Fuel Prices". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  13. Phoenix Business Journal
    . Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  14. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft 1900D N233YV Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, NC (CLT)." Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on May 26, 2009.

References

External links

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