Skyway Airlines

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Skyway Airlines

IATA AL	ICAO SYX	Callsign SKYWAY-EX
Founded		1994
Ceased operations		2008
Hubs		General Mitchell International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Midwest Miles
Member lounge		Best Care Club
Fleet size		16
Destinations		19
Parent company		Midwest Air Group
Headquarters		Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Key people		David C. Reeve - President & CEO
Website: http://www.midwestairlines.com

Skyway Airlines is a ramp services and catering company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It previously operated as Midwest Connect, a regional airline feeding Midwest Airlines's hub at General Mitchell International Airport with twelve 32-seat jet aircraft, and four 19-seat Beechcraft 1900 turboprops. The last day of flight operations was April 5, 2008.

1 History
2 Destinations
- 2.1 Canada
  - 2.1.1 Ontario
- 2.2 United States
3 Fleet
4 References

[edit] History

Skyway Airlines, The Midwest Express Connection, began flight operations on April 17, 1989.

Skyway began operations as a division of Phoenix, Arizona-based Mesa Air Group. Mesa's Skyway Airlines division operated Beechcraft 1900C 19-passenger airliners, providing regional airline feed to Midwest Express Airlines in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Rockford, Illinois.

In 1994, Midwest Express purchased the Skyway division from Mesa. It reincorporated the airline as Astral Aviation, Inc., doing business as Skyway Airlines. (Astral) Skyway was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Midwest Express Airlines. When Midwest Air Group purchased Skyway, it obtained Beechcraft 1900D models, replacing Mesa's 1900Cs. One benefit of the 1900D was its roomier cabin for improved passenger comfort. Midwest also closed the Rockford base and centered all operations around Midwest Express's Milwaukee hub.

(Astral) Skyway's first flight was from Milwaukee to Flint, Michigan, on February 15, 1994. At its largest extent, Skyway operated a fleet of 15 Beechcraft 1900Ds. These connected Milwaukee with communities in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Toronto, Canada.

While turboprop airline operations are safe and very fuel-efficient, by the late 1990's many passengers viewed them as noisy and uncomfortable, and some passengers still distrusted turboprops' safety. For marketing and customer relations reasons, many regional airlines transitioned to small jets and phased out their turboprop operations.

In 1999, Skyway became the world launch customer for the Fairchild Dornier 328JET aircraft, a 32-seat jet. It ultimately acquired 12 328JETs. The 328JETs allowed Skyway to provide new service to cities as far as Hartford, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Raleigh-Durham, and to provide more comfortable passenger accommodations on routes previously served by the Beechcraft 1900. Skyway planned to transition to an all-jet fleet by obtaining additional 328JET aircraft, purchasing German manufacturer Fairchild Dornier's planned 44-seat version, known as the 428JET, and phasing out the Beechcraft 1900.

In 2002, Dornier, an aviation pioneer dating back to the 1930's, became insolvent. Production of the 328JET stopped. This interrupted Skyway's plans to further expand its jet fleet and replace the Beechcraft 1900. AvCraft Aviation, a Virginia-based parts supplier for the 328 turboprop and the 328JET, purchased the production rights for the 328JET from Fairchild Dornier's receivers, and planned to re-establish production of the type. Then AvCraft went bankrupt. This made further growth of the 328JET fleet effectively impossible.

The other regional jets built by Canadair and Embraer had substantial order backlogs, and the training, maintenance and inventory costs of running a small airline with three different aircraft types made another jet purchase financially impractical. Without having an available replacement aircraft, Skyway began to draw down its Beechcraft 1900 fleet, planning to eventually eliminate that fleet.

In March, 2003, Midwest Express Airlines reincorporated and changed its name to Midwest Airlines. Astral Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Skyway Airlines also reincorporated and changed its name, to Skyway Airlines, Inc., d/b/a Midwest Connect. New logos were designed for both airlines' aircraft and uniforms, and the connection between Midwest Airlines and Midwest Connect was made more obvious for marketing purposes.^[1]

In 2006, Midwest Airlines announced that it would obtain additional regional feed from SkyWest Airlines, an independently-owned airline based in St. George, Utah which operated Canadair regional jets. The SkyWest aircraft would also bear the name "Midwest Connect." Midwest announced that it would operate the SkyWest and Skyway operations side-by-side.

On January 16, 2008, Midwest Airlines announced that it would terminate all Skyway Airlines flight operations and transfer all Midwest Connect flying to SkyWest. Skyway's last day of flight operations was April 5, 2008. At the end of flight operations, Skyway operated 12 328JETs and 4 Beechcraft 1900D aircraft.

Skyway Airlines now operates in an airport services role, providing ramp and food service operations for Midwest Airlines and SkyWest Midwest Connect, and customer service operations for some SkyWest Midwest Connect field stations. ^[2]

[edit] Destinations

Main article: Skyway Airlines destinations

At the time of shutdown, Skyway Airlines flew to 19 destinations in Canada and the United States. The airline's hub was at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport. Most destinations were taken over by SkyWest on April 6, 2008. The remaining few (part of the essential air service program) saw a termination of service.