Midwest Airlines dropping flights to leisure destinations

Midwest Airlines has said that its struggle with the high cost of fuel has led to its reducing its flight schedule, which will mean cutting flights to leisure destinations and maintaining its service to business destinations. The carrier also commented that it was business travel on which it had built its business.

The schedule changes will actually roll back service to levels that the Milwaukee-based carrier launched at the beginning of the decade — which was before an earlier recession and the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The runs that will be cut completely are flights to Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers, Florida and San Diego, California. Tampa is the only city in Florida which will see year-round Midwest service.

Nonstop service to Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles will also be discontinued. The cities will be serviced, but flights will stop in Kansas City, Missouri, where additional passengers and fuel will be added.

Midwest Connect flights will be dropped to Baltimore, Maryland, Hartford, Connecticut, Louisville, Kentucky, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina and St. Louis, Missouri.

A number of cities will see no change in service. Departures to Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Tampa, and Washington, D.C. will remain unchanged.

Airline spokesman Michael Brophy noted that the carrier will do its best to see that passengers who have purchased seats on cancelled flights are rebooked on other flights or receive refunds if they cannot be rebooked.

www.midwestairlines.com