Midwest flights cut in Madison

Bill Novak  —  7/21/2008 10:31 am

Dane County Regional Airport will lose two of its six Midwest Connect flights a day in September, as the Milwaukee-based carrier slashes jobs and routes to save money amidst rising jet fuel costs.

Midwest announced the flight cuts Monday, after announcing it would cut 1,200 jobs last week, about 40 percent of the airline's work force.

Dane County Regional Airport spokesperson Sharyn Wisniewski told The Capital Times Midwest will drop the daily non-stop flight from Madison to Kansas City, as well as one of the five daily flights from Madison to Milwaukee.

"Passengers will still be able to get to Kansas City from Madison on Midwest, but will have to stop in Milwaukee first," Wisniewski said.

The cuts in service will take effect Sept. 8.

Flights cut from the Midwest schedule include non-stop flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle from Milwaukee, leisure destinations including San Diego, Fort Myers, Fla. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Midwest Connect service to Baltimore, Hartford, Conn., Louisville, Ky., Raleigh/Durham, N.C., St. Louis, San Antonio, Muskegon, Mich., and the Central Wisconsin airport in Mosinee, serving the Wausau and Stevens Point markets.

The carrier will continue to have flights year-round to Tampa, but will only have seasonal service to Orlando.

In the transition to a reduced schedule, service to Orlando will be suspended from Sept. 8 through Oct. 20 and will resume Oct. 21, continuing to April 30, 2009.

Midwest will have 102 daily departures systemwide, compared to 138 before the cuts. From its Milwaukee hub, Midwest will have 90 flights compared to 118 before the cuts.

According to the Midwest Airlines web site at www.midwestairlines.com, passengers who have tickets on flights that will be affected by the schedule changes come Sept. 8 can either rebook on other Midwest flights, rebook on other carriers, use the value of the Midwest ticket to get a ticket to a different Midwest destination or get a full refund.

Bill Novak  —  7/21/2008 10:31 am