BostonHerald.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2001

Midway cutting back
by Greg Gatlin

After seeking bankruptcy court protection late Monday, North Carolina-based
Midway Airlines said yesterday that it will fire half its staff, pull out of
nine markets, including Providence, and will ice plans to launch service out
of Hanscom Field in Bedford.

Midway will also cut one of its six daily round-trip flights between Logan
Airport and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

Midway blamed a ``calamitous drop in business traffic,'' low fares, slow
growth and high jet fuel prices for its woes. The company said it will slash
700 workers immediately, including 189 pilots.

``Any plans for new cities are on hold,'' said spokeswoman Karen Wing. She
said preliminary plans to fly three daily trips between Hanscom and
Raleigh-Durham ``would be canceled for the foreseeable future.''

Citizen activists who have vehemently fought expanded commercial service out
of Hanscom, which is surrounded by historical sites, appear to be winning
the battle by default.

Shuttle America Inc. sought bankruptcy protection earlier this year and
reduced the number of flights out of Hanscom. The company for months has
promised to announce new financial backing.

Boston-Maine Airways wanted to launch service to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard
and Nantucket this summer, but appears caught in the regulatory process, and
may face heightened Federal Aviation Administration-imposed reviews.

Hanscom activist group Save Our Heritage said yesterday that the Midway
bankruptcy raised new doubts that Shuttle America will find backing during a
period of airline retrenchment.

``This makes it difficult to credit Shuttle America's repeated claim that it
is about to receive a capital infusion of $20 million,'' the group said in a
written statement.

Midway will maintain flights to Washington-Reagan National. In addition to
reducing its Logan flights from six to five daily, the airline will trim
flights to 18 other destinations, including Atlanta, Hartford, Miami, New
Orleans, New York-La Guardia, Orlando, Philadelphia and Tampa.

For the quarter ending June 30, Midway had losses of $7 million. As of June
30, the company said it had $318 million in assets and liabilities of $232
million.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Copyright by the Boston Herald and Herald Interactive Advertising Systems,
Inc.
==========
**NOTICE:  In accordance with 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.**
==========