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Midway Airlines (1976–1991)

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For the North Carolina-based Midway Airlines, see Midway Airlines (1993–2003).

Midway Airlines was a United States airline based in Chicago, Illinois. It was incorporated on October 13, 1976, by Kenneth T. Carlson, Irving T. Tague and William B. Owens, filing with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for an airline operating certificate. Although it received its operating certificate from the CAB prior to the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, it was viewed as the first post-deregulation start-up. The airline commenced operations on November 1, 1979.[1]

Midway Airlines
IATA ICAO Call sign
ML MDW MIDWAY
Founded13 October 1976
Commenced operations1 November 1979 (1979-11-01)
Ceased operations13 November 1991 (1991-11-13)
HubsChicago Midway
Philadelphia
Frequent-flyer programFlyersFirst
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois
Key peopleDavid R. Hinson (CEO)

The airline was notable for breathing new life into Midway International Airport, then called Chicago Midway Airport, which had lost most of its scheduled flights to O'Hare International Airport. The airline took its name from the airport, which in turn took its name from the World War II Battle of Midway. The carrier was also notable for pursuing at least three distinct business models during its life, starting as a discount carrier, then moving to an all business-class airline before ending its life as a conventional airline.

Midway was never highly or consistently profitable, but unlike many bigger and/or more prominent airlines (e.g. Braniff, People Express, Western Airlines and Piedmont Airlines to pick just a few) it survived the 1980s, an achievement. Unfortunately management threw it all away in one disastrous 1989 decision, the purchase of the Philadelphia hub of bankrupt Eastern Air Lines. This led directly to Midway’s March 1991 Chapter 11 filing. A deal was struck to sell the company, still operating in bankruptcy, to Northwest Airlines, which backed out at the last minute, leaving Midway dead in November 1991.

A group of investors, including Carlson, bought the airline's name (for $20,000) and started another Midway Airlines, which flew from 1993 to 2003.[2][3]

History

 
DC-9-15 in the original livery

Representative Fary and Lamar Muse

In June 1976, Lamar Muse, founding president of Southwest Airlines, testified to Congress. Representative John G. Fary, in whose district was Midway Airport, asked if Muse had any ideas how to revive the airport, then “virtually a ghost town”. Muse said, in part, “…you could do exactly the same thing at Midway that Southwest has done at Love Field in Dallas…”[4] Muse said he incautiously aired this idea in the offices of consultants Simat, Helliesen & Eichner (SH&E), where partner John Eichner was a friend and frequent business partner of Muse. Two other SH&E consultants took the idea to former Hughes Airwest executive Irving Tague and incorporated Midway Airlines (October 13, 1976)[5] to be first in line with the CAB. And founder Kenneth Carlson was in fact an SH&E vice president immediately prior to starting Midway Airlines.[6] In response, Muse created a subsidiary, Midway (Southwest) Airway Co., which also applied to the CAB. Muse’s idea was to connect Midway Airport to 15 cities about 200-500 miles from Chicago, whereas Midway Airlines took a smaller list of six cities to the CAB.[7]

Midway Airport was a flashpoint for critics of airline regulation because the slow and bureaucratic CAB failed to resuscitate the airport, a priority for the City of Chicago and the Illinois congressional delegation. Muse said in July 1977 Congressional deregulation hearings (when total airline service at Midway was two Delta flights/day) that, based on its experience in Texas, Southwest would, within a year, pump 5 million passengers per year through Midway with 92 737 departures/weekday (79 per day on weekends).[8] But Southwest’s board of directors was not supportive and the plan was a bone of contention in Muse’s feud with Southwest founder Rollin King, which ultimately led to Muse's resignation from Southwest in March 1978.[9] This helped clear the way for Midway Airlines. History later vindicated Muse's view of Midway airport as a Southwest opportunity (as of March 5, 2024, Southwest scheduled up to 249 departures per day at Midway).[10] Midway Airport did not reach the 5 million annual passengers/year level until 1987.[11]

Everyone loves Midway Airport, including Federal Express

Midway Airlines, from concept to reality, reflected the progress of US airline deregulation, for which the inflection point was the high-profile 1975 Senate hearings on the CAB by Ted Kennedy. Ex-ante, new scheduled carrier certification was unthinkable, it hadn’t happened in decades. Ex-post, there was a sense of possibility, which is why, in 1976, the idea of Midway Airlines was plausible.[12] But CAB bureaucracy still moved slowly. However, in 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed deregulator Alfred Kahn to run the CAB, handing control to reformers, thereby completely changing the nature and tempo of its decisions[13]. The Carter administration (and Congress) was in favor of opening up Midway Airport to low-cost air travel.[14][15] The CAB announced in August 1977 that it would decide the Midway airport proceeding by August 1978, incredibly fast for the CAB.[16]

The August 1978 CAB ruling (against a backdrop of the Airline Deregulation Act going through Congress) was good news/bad news for Midway. Good news: it got the routes it wanted. Bad news: so did everyone else. Midway believed it deserved (as the self-proclaimed innovator) all six Midway routes to itself, at least for a time, to become established. But the CAB noted that Southwest might be the innovator (see prior section) and projections showed it to be the most efficient applicant, but the CAB wouldn't play favorites. Midway, Southwest and local service airline North Central each got all six routes and Northwest and Delta got the select Midway routes they asked for. In addition, Midway and the Southwest Midway subsidiary were both given economic certification as well. The CAB was on a roll: it had already opened an even broader Midway airport proceeding for another 24 routes.[17] There was substantial doubt Midway Airlines would get funding given what looked like an avalanche of future service at the airport.[18]

But, notwithstanding early interest, few airlines made any subsequent moves toward Midway Airport, because deregulation put all networks up for grabs; there were more pressing concerns.[19] While Southwest continued to participate in Midway CAB cases, it took no practical steps towards service. Lamar Muse was long-gone, and Southwest would not enter Midway until 1985.[10] Even with the way relatively clear, Midway Airlines found it hard to raise money, Chicago investors were generally uninterested.[20] On August 2, 1979, it announced it had raised $5.7mm from 16 private investors, only one of which was Chicago-based, allowing the airline to head towards a November 1, 1979 launch.[21] In September, the CAB gave 15 airlines (including, of all airlines, Wien Air Alaska) the right to fly those other 24 routes from Midway. One was Federal Express, having obtained Boeing 737-200QC aircraft with which it wanted to fly packages at night and passengers during the day.[22] This was Fedex’s “Project Torso”, wherein founder Fred Smith briefly toyed with the idea of passenger service.[23] At the time, Fedex had a highly profitable monopoly on overnight delivery growing at 40% per year.[24] Passenger service was a distraction. But ultimately, none of the 15, other than Midway, did anything with this broad new authority.

Midway Airlines Financial Results, 1980 thru 1990
(USD mm) 1980[25] 1981[26] 1982[27] 1983[28] 1984[29] 1985[30] 1986[31] 1987[32] 1988[33] 1989[34] 1990[35]
Op revenue 25.0 73.9 94.7 103.3 148.0 193.4 261.4 340.7 388.0 463.0 614.8
Op profit (loss) 8.8 4.5 (12.3) (13.0) 0.9 11.1 25.0 13.5 (13.5) (84.5)
Net profit (loss) (5.0) 7.6 0.3 (15.0) (22.0) (3.6) 9.0 19.8 6.5 (21.7) (139.2)
Op margin 11.9% 4.7% -11.9% -8.7% 0.4% 4.2% 7.3% 3.5% -2.9% -13.7%
Net margin -20.2% 10.2% 0.4% -14.5% -14.8% -1.9% 3.5% 5.8% 1.7% -4.7% -22.6%

Nov 1979 – July 1982: original no-frills business model

Midway duly started on November 1, 1979 on three routes: Detroit, Cleveland and Kansas City. Midway’s original business model was inspired by Southwest, but instead of Southwest’s 118-seat 737s, Midway started with three 83-seat DC-9-10s.[36] Midway’s fares were below those of conventional competitors at O’Hare and there was no food on board. In 1980, it expanded to 5 DC-9-10s.[37] The airline ran unconventional offers like penny sales, offering the return at a penny with the outbound at the usual fare to fill up off-peak days.[38]. At times this caused chaos as customers rushed the airport to take advantage of them.[39] It worked. Midway was solidly profitable in 1981 (see nearby table), a genuine achievement for only the second full year of operation. In fact, the 1981 operating margin was the highest full-year operating margin Midway would ever attain. In 1982, the board fired the person responsible for this achievement.

Early Midway was marked by significant management turnover. Some founders (like Carlson)[6] were gone by 1980 and in early 1982, Irving Tague took a leave of absence for “personal reasons,” with David Hinson becoming acting chair.[40] Gordon Linkon, ex-Frontier, was made President in 1980,[41] embracing the low-cost ethic. Midway went public in December 1980, 850,000 shares at $13.50.[42] But the board was dissatisfied by the airline’s discount image and some of those promotions. Chicago was particularly badly affected by the extended disruption caused by the August 1981 air traffic controllers strike. United Airlines grounded 50 aircraft, and Midway found itself unable to fully employ eight DC-9-30s it had acquired from Ansett Australia.[43] A new Boston route failed in the face of severe competition.[44] Consequently, results for the first quarter of 1982 were poor, as with the rest of the industry. In what was apparently a long-planned move, the directors fired Linkon in July 1982,[45] shortly after he turned in a profitable second quarter, one in which most of the industry made a loss.[46]

Startup

Following the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Midway first emerged as a discount carrier. It was noted for its low fares and ease of connections at Midway Airport. The airline purchased three Douglas DC-9s from Trans World Airlines and began service on October 31, 1979,[1] flying to Cleveland, Ohio's Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport, Kansas City, Missouri, and Detroit, Michigan.[1] The scheduled service was an instant success. In 1980, Midway bought five more DC-9s and added flights to St. Louis, Missouri, New York City's La Guardia Airport, and Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C.; it also shifted its Cleveland service to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The airline also briefly served Minneapolis, Minnesota, but dropped this service shortly after it began.[47]

During the 1980s, the airline adopted a combination of all-leather two-by-two seating to business markets and all-coach seating to vacation destinations. It eventually dropped this idea due to the impact on revenue caused by eliminating seats, and the confusion it created in the minds of connecting passengers.

The carrier expanded into the Caribbean via the purchase in 1984 of the assets of Air Florida, which had gone into bankruptcy. It proved to be good mix of business and vacation travel revenue. Midway flourished under the leadership of David R. Hinson, who was its chief executive officer from 1985 to 1991. In 1984, Boeing 737-200 flights to the Caribbean were being operated by subsidiary Midway Express while DC-9 domestic jet service was flown Midway Metrolink.[48]

 
Midway Airlines Boeing 737-200

In 1986 the company assisted in setting up a successful regional affiliate, Midway Connection, as a feeder operating commuter turboprop aircraft with service to small communities in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This carrier was established following the bankruptcy of Chicago Air, a regional carrier which attempted a similar, but independent, feeder operation earlier in 1986.

On a June 1988 weekday, Midway scheduled 116 nonstop flights into Midway Airport from 25 airports, along with 75 Midway Connection nonstops from 17 other airports. They flew Chicago Midway (MDW) - Miami (MIA) - Saint Croix (STX) - St. Thomas (STT) round trip as well as Chicago Midway (MDW) - Fort Lauderdale (FLL) - Nassau (NAS) round trip ; aside from those, all Chicago flights were nonstop to and from Midway Airport. Midway Airlines′ peak year was 1989, when it flew 10.1 billion revenue passenger-kilometers, compared to 0.6 billion in 1981.[49]

Midway Airlines was noted for friendly employees and attentive service, and its Chicago South Side passengers were fiercely loyal to their hometown airline. Some of the signature in-flight service items were after-dinner chocolate wafer mints and hot hand towels for the entire cabin, both of which had originally caught on with Midway's business clientele.[citation needed]

June 1989 - November 1991: throwing it all away

The long slow decline of Eastern Air Lines ended in March 1989 with a debilitating strike, tipping it into Chapter 11.[50] In June, Midway bought Eastern’s Philadelphia gates (and certain other assets, such as routes to Toronto and Montreal from Philly) as well as 16 DC-9 aircraft for $210mm.[51][52][53] Further investment included hiring, refurbishing the aircraft and the former Eastern space in Philly, and heavy marketing to introduce east coast residents to Midway. Hinson’s rationale was that Midway was reaching the limits of growth in Chicago, it needed a second hub and this was its best opportunity.[54] The Philly hub was supposed to help drive Midway annual revenue to $2bn within two years.[55] Philly was one of several major commitments in 1989. Midway ordered 29 McDonnell Douglas MD-82s for a nominal $900mm[56] as well as a nominal $244mm for 33 Dornier 328 turboprops for Midway Connection.[57] It also reintroduced first class on all routes.[58] Midway was living large.

USAir was the dominant Philly incumbent and had little desire to accommodate Midway.[53] At the end of 1989, Midway had 61 jets vs 441 for USAir.[34] It wasn't a fair fight but Midway picked it. The Philly hub launched November 15, 1989.[59] Fuel prices were up significantly in early 1990 over 1989, while Florida fares dropped $30.[60] Then the US entered a recession in July 1990. Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, pitching the US into the Gulf War, inducing an oil price shock and an immediate decline in international travel, which only accelerated once fighting broke out.[61] On October 19, less than a year after starting the hub, Midway announced it was leaving Philadelphia. Oddly, USAir paid Midway $68mm for the former Eastern Philly gates (and Canadian routes).[62][63] Had USAir not paid for them, Midway would have collapsed even sooner and USAir would likely have obtained the Philly assets for nothing; it's not like there were other bidders. USAir's payment was small next to Midway’s total Philly stranded investment but it was something. Midway’s 1990 losses vastly exceeded the sum total of every profitable year Midway ever had, but in fact the previous record loss in 1989 was also due to Philly: Midway had made a small profit in the first three quarters of 1989 and the 1989 fourth quarter loss was Philly-driven.[64][65]

 
Boeing 737-200 in Midway/ Southwest Airlines hybrid livery.

By March 1991, Midway filed for Chapter 11, Hinson describing it as a “minor setback”. In October the bankruptcy court approved a $175mm Northwest takeover deal, including assuming remaining aircraft and employees. The court rejected a smaller, $110mm bid by Southwest, which did not offer to take aircraft or employees. Midway had lost $36mm since filing Chapter 11, against projected income of $6.5mm, and was down to $4mm in cash.[66]. Northwest ran newspaper ads saying customers could book Midway with confidence but a month after agreeing to the deal, it pulled out, accusing Midway of showing inaccurate revenue figures for 1990 and ostensibly worried about environmental liability at Midway Airport. Why Northwest pulled out is unclear. It had huge debts of its own, having been taken private in an untimely LBO in 1989.[67]. Some believed Northwest saw the Midway deal as risking a simultaneous deal to get funding from the state of Minnesota.[68]. Whatever the reason, Midway ceased flying November 13, 1991.[69]

The airline was dissolved in 1992. A group of investors bought the Midway Airlines name and started a new airline using the name in 1993. That airline went bankrupt in 2003.[3]

Destinations

Canada

Caribbean

United States

Fleet

Midway Airlines historical fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Remark
Boeing 737-200 14 1985 1992 [70]
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 1 1979 1991 [71]
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 8 1979 1993 [70]
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 38 1981 1994 [70]
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 17 1984 1993 [70]
McDonnell Douglas MD-81 2 1983 1985 N10028, N10029[70]
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 4 1990 1992 N809ML, N810ML, N811ML, N812ML[70]
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 3 1990 1992 N905ML, N906ML, N907ML[70]
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 8 1989 1993 [70]
McDonnell Douglas MD-88 2 1990 1992 N903ML, N904ML[70]

From 1983 to 1985 Midway experimented with a one-class business service called "Midway Metrolink" on some of its flights.[1] Seating was 2x2 on DC-9s, which typically have 2x3 seating.

Midway Express

After its initial acquisition of Air Florida, Midway Airlines operated a stand-alone service named "Midway Express", which flew some of Air Florida's former tourist routes. In 1984, Midway Express was serving four airports in Florida, including Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando and West Palm Beach as well as St. Thomas and St. Croix in the Caribbean.[48] The airline initially operated Boeing 737-200 jets which had been formerly operated by Air Florida.[72] By 1990, Midway had added service to Fort Myers, Jacksonville and Sarasota in Florida as well as to Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas.[73]

Midway Connection

In 1987 Midway Airlines purchased commuter air carrier Fischer Brothers Aviation based in Galion, Ohio, and moved the entire operation to Springfield, Illinois. Fischer Brothers Aviation had previously operated Allegheny Commuter service for Allegheny Airlines and successor USAir and then began operating Northwest Airlink service on behalf of Northwest Airlines. The initial move consisted of the Fischer Brothers management team (including Vice President of Operations Armando Cardenas, Chief Pilot Mark Zweidinger, Vice President of Customer Service Mark Fisher, Director of Maintenance Craig Anderson and Personnel Manager Cynthia Baldwin) and was led by Midway Airlines executive Richard Pfennig. Offers of employment were extended to the pilots and maintenance team that wanted to relocate. Gordon Jones, Vice President of Maintenance and Jerry Turpstra, Chief Inspector joined the management group in June 1987. Mr. Pfennig took control of the operation and was able to quickly get the company through certification flights. In May 1987 the commuter started scheduled passenger flights. The initial operation consisted of 21 employees, the original seven Dornier 228 turboprop aircraft and eventually ended with 125 employees, 28 Dornier aircraft and 13 Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprop aircraft. Midway Connection operated to cities in the Midwest states, including Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Oshkosh), Michigan (Traverse City, Grand Rapids, Muskegeon, Lansing, Kalamazoo), Indiana (South Bend, Ft. Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette), Illinois (Bloomington, Champaign, Moline-Quad Cities, Peoria and their home base Springfield, Illinois), and Ohio (Toledo). This Midway Connection service was a wholly owned subsidiary of Midway Airlines, and although it was an independent operation, it was completely operated as a "feeder" for the "mainline" operation via a code sharing agreement. Dispatch and Maintenance for the airline was conducted in Springfield, Illinois, while reservations were supported through Midway Airlines in Chicago utilizing the SABRE reservations system.

Iowa Airways

Iowa Airways also operated Midway Connection code share service and in 1989 was flying nonstop between Midway Airport and Benton Harbor, Flint, and Kalamazoo in Michigan, Dubuque in Iowa and Elkhart in Indiana with Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante turboprops.[74]

Accidents and incidents

Midway Airlines had no aircraft accidents.

Midway Connection had only 3 minor incidents and 2 large bird strike incidents. During initial FAA flight proving runs, a cabin door on the Dornier 228 aircraft opened in flight and struck the tail of the aircraft. The aircraft sustained minor damage and returned to Springfield, Illinois. The door was found in a field later that month.

During a passenger flight, a repair of the previous tail damage came loose inflight and departed the aircraft. The damage was found during inspection by the first officer for the next flight. During engine start up procedures, a parking brake was left engaged on a Dornier 228 aircraft. The FAA determined that braking pressure had bled out from one of the main landing gear brakes. The over-riding parking brake valve prohibited the pilot from being able to actuate the pilot brakes causing the aircraft to yaw and strike one of the other nearby parked aircraft.

Midway Connection had two bird strike incidents involving geese. The first incident involved a goose striking the inner wing between the engine and the fuselage. During the incident the bird was also struck by the propeller and a portion of the carcass was thrown through the passenger window striking a passenger. The second involved a goose striking one of the landing gear sponsons causing substantial damage to the fairing and structure.

Frequent flyer program

Midway operated a frequent flyer program called FlyersFirst. Upon cessation of service, the program ended and mileage credits were not transferred to any other program.[75]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "WebCite query result". www.webcitation.org. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  2. ^ Founder of Midway Air Recycling Name, August 11, 1993
  3. ^ a b "Midway Airlines Files for Bankruptcy". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022.
  4. ^ Civil Aeronautics Board Reports (Report). Vol. 78. 1978. p. 514.
  5. ^ Opencorporates record of Midway Airlines incorporation
  6. ^ a b Economic Cases of the Civil Aeronautics Board (Report). Vol. 87, part I. October 1980 – January 1981. p. 682.
  7. ^ Muse, Lamar (2002). Southwest Passage. Eakin Press. pp. 166–193. ISBN 1571687394.
  8. ^ Aviation Regulatory Reform: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Aviation of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, House of Representatives, Ninety-Fifth Congress, First Session, on H.R. 8813 (introduced August 13, 1977) (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1977. pp. 493–496.
  9. ^ Muse 2002, p. 193.
  10. ^ a b Southwest Airlines City Facts for Chicago (Midway), accessed April 2, 2024
  11. ^ FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation (Report). Federal Aviation Administration. 1987. p. 84.
  12. ^ Bailey, Elizabeth E.; Graham, David R.; Kaplan, Daniel P. (May 1983). Deregulating the Airlines: An Economic Analysis (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. pp. 26–29.
  13. ^ BG&K 1983, p. 29-34.
  14. ^ "Chicago-Midway Low-Fare Route Proceeding". Economic Cases of the Civil Aeronautics Board. 78. Civil Aeronautics Board: 485. August–September 1978.
  15. ^ Cut-rate Midway flights OKd by U.S. Chicago Tribune, December 3, 1977
  16. ^ Proceeding 1978, p. 481.
  17. ^ Proceeding 1978, p. 454-592.
  18. ^ Midway Airlines can’t get backing, Chicago Tribune, December 17, 1978
  19. ^ Midway budget flights in spring, Chicago Tribune, November 13, 1978
  20. ^ Lot of groundwork preceded first flight of new airline, Chicago Tribune, October 31, 1979
  21. ^ New airline to offer low-cost rates from Midway to 3 cities, Chicago Tribune, August 3, 1979
  22. ^ "Chicago-Midway Expanded Service". Economic Cases of the Civil Aeronautics Board. 83, Part 1. Civil Aeronautics Board: 272–412. September–October 1979.
  23. ^ Frock, Roger J. (2006). Changing How the World Does Business. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. pp. 181–182. ISBN 1576754138.
  24. ^ Federal Express Seeking Expansion Area Memphis Commercial Appeal, September 10, 1978
  25. ^ Air Transport Association 1981 Annual Report
  26. ^ Air Transport Association 1982 Annual Report
  27. ^ Air Transport Association 1983 Annual Report
  28. ^ Air Transport Association 1984 Annual Report
  29. ^ Air Transport Association 1985 Annual Report
  30. ^ Air Transport Association 1986 Annual Report
  31. ^ Air Transport Association 1987 Annual Report
  32. ^ Air Transport Association 1988 Annual Report
  33. ^ Air Transport Association 1989 Annual Report
  34. ^ a b Air Transport Association 1990 Annual Report
  35. ^ Air Transport Association 1991 Annual Report
  36. ^ Midway will run with 3 leased DC-9s, Chicago Tribune, October 31, 1979
  37. ^ Midway flaps wings harder, Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1980
  38. ^ Midweek penny sale, Chicago Tribune, August 3, 1980
  39. ^ ‘Penny’ fares bring stampede, Chicago Tribune, January 29, 1980
  40. ^ Midway Air chief takes leave, Chicago Tribune, March 9, 1982
  41. ^ He takes a gamble on Midway, Chicago Tribune, August 20, 1982
  42. ^ Midway offer sold out, Chicago Tribune, December 5, 1980
  43. ^ O’Hare could lose ‘busiest’ status, Chicago Tribune, March 18, 1982
  44. ^ Midway feeling growing pains, Chicago Tribune, March 17, 1982
  45. ^ Ex-Federal Express Boss to join Midway, Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1982
  46. ^ Midway Chairman Appointed After a Search of Three Months, Omaha World-Herald, August 5, 1982
  47. ^ "MSA - Malaysia Singapore Airlines - Malaysian Airways - Malayan Airways". timetableimages.com.
  48. ^ a b http://www.departedflights.com, October 15, 1984 Midway Airlines system timetable
  49. ^ Air Transport World
  50. ^ Eastern Requests Bankrupt Status To Cut Strike Loss, New York Times, March 10, 1989
  51. ^ $200 million Midway offer on Eastern, Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1989
  52. ^ Salpukas, Agis (June 17, 1989). "Eastern to Sell Operations in Philadelphia to Midway". New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  53. ^ a b Midway to buy Eastern property in Philadelphia, Chicago Tribune, June 17, 1989
  54. ^ Midway sees return to profitability in second half of ‘90, Chicago Tribune, May 11, 1990
  55. ^ 10 years later, Midway flying high, Chicago Tribune, November 2, 1989
  56. ^ Midway places major jet order, Chicago Tribune, March 31, 1989
  57. ^ Midway to buy 33 airplanes, Chicago Tribune, October 7, 1989
  58. ^ Classy Press Conference, Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1989
  59. ^ Midway spreads its wings to Philly, Chicago Tribune, November 16, 1989
  60. ^ Losses and all, Midway would still rather be in Philadelphia, Chicago Tribune, May 18, 1990]
  61. ^ Travel advisory; Gulf War Leads To a 30% Drop In World Travel, New York Times, January 27, 1991
  62. ^ Midway Air’s 2nd hub casualty of fuel costs, Chicago Tribune, October 20, 1990
  63. ^ Berg, Eric N. (October 20, 1990). "Midway Air Leaving Philadelphia". New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  64. ^ "Fourth Quarter and Twelve Months Ended December 1990 and 1989". Air Carrier Financial Statistics Quarterly. US Department of Transportation: 46. December 31, 1990.
  65. ^ Midway Airlines item under Earnings, Chicago Tribune, February 21, 1990
  66. ^ Northwest lands Midway Air, Chicago Tribune, October 9, 1991
  67. ^ Northwest Airlines Accepts Offer Of $3.6 Billion by Investor Group, New York Times, June 20, 1989
  68. ^ Business Diary November 10-15, New York Times, November 17, 1991
  69. ^ Midway Air halts operations, Chicago Tribune, November 14, 1991
  70. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Midway AirlinesFleet". Planespotters. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  71. ^ "N1056T Midway Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14". Planespotters. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  72. ^ "Midway Completes Air Florida Buy".
  73. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, October 1, 1990 Midway Airlines system timetable
  74. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, December 15, 1989 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Chicago Midway Airport flight schedules
  75. ^ "Press Releases - WebFlyer :: The Frequent Flyer Authority". www.webflyer.com.
 
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