Arriving at the story only 4 weeks after Mark Belling, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is now reporting that Republic Airways, owners of both Midwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines, is planning on a “unified” brand for the two airlines sometime after Labor Day. I’ll miss the name, mostly because of what it used to stand for.
I still remember my first flight on what was Midwest Express at the time – a midday trip to Cleveland in 1994. The soft-brown 2×2 leather seats on the DC-9, the complimentary glass of champagne, and the very-fresh sandwich offered (since it was a short flight, the full meal wasn’t an option) were all very nice. I guess it was inevitable that the best care in the air would be no more, but I didn’t expect the flight attendant on the Kansas City-to-Milwaukee leg of my return trip from CPAC to say that it was a Frontier flight before correcting herself.
Perhaps they’ll call it Midwest Frontiers, and offer pemmican, beef jerky and water out of a hoofprint (and you’ll be happy to get it).
The Frontier planes are actually pretty nice- the flights I have been on had leather seats and individual televisions that you could watch movies or cable on. The food had to be purchased, but it was fine. My kids loved that each plane was associated with an animal. They will be very upset if they get rid of the cookies however!