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Mesa issues shutdown schedule for Air Midwest
Mesa issues shutdown schedule for Air Midwest Mesa Air Group made it official this morning that it will shut down its Air Midwest subsidiary. In a press release just in from Mesa, the company details the shutdown dates for the cities served by Air Midwest. The Associated Press writes that Mesa will end service to cities throughout 10 states "because soaring fuel prices and low demand made keeping the operation running impossible. That includes cities served by Air Midwest under the federal government's Essential Air Service (EAS) program, which subsidizes flights on routes that would otherwise be unprofitable." Mesa says Air Midwest was losing money on those routes, even with the EAS subsidies.Mesa says Air Midwest will shutdown on the following schedule: East Coast operations will end May 23, affecting Lewisburg, W. Va.; Dubois, Pa.; Franklin, Pa.; and Athens, Ga. West Coast operations end May 31, affecting Ely, Nev.; Merced, Calif.; Visalia, Calif.; Prescott, Ariz.; Kingman, Ariz.; and Farmington, N.M. Midwest operations cease on June 30, affecting Columbia, Mo.; Joplin, Mo.; Kirksville, Mo.; Grand Island, Neb.; McCook, Neb.; and Little Rock, Ark. Air Midwest flies as a regional carrier for bigger airlines, notably for US Airways. "We are extremely saddened this decision has become necessary; Air Midwest has a long and proud history and has served millions of passengers in its 43 years of operation," Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein says in a statement. "Unfortunately under the current economic conditions there was no foreseeable way to achieve sustained profitability. Even with subsidies from the DOT, Air Midwest has been unable to sustain profitability for the last several years. While this was an extremely difficult decision, and one that the company worked tirelessly to avoid, we are working diligently to minimize the impact this decision will have on Air Midwest's passengers and employees." |
I saw 2 GO! airplanes when we landed at CAE today... is GO! next... Freedom... Mesa?
Why are there CRJ's from Hawaii in South Carolina? |
Originally Posted by groovinaviator
(Post 384172)
I saw 2 GO! airplanes when we landed at CAE today... is GO! next... Freedom... Mesa?
Why are there CRJ's from Hawaii in South Carolina? |
Originally Posted by hdale
(Post 384176)
Mesa does some heavy maintenance in CAE. Some 200's have been repod from PHX to CAE the last several weeks, Including ac in US and GO! colors.
Seems like a long way to fly for Mx. I would hate to be that repo pilot... that has to be about an 8 hour flight or worse. Can a CRJ even make it from Hawaii to the mainland without extra fuel tanks installed? I should know the answer to that... |
Originally Posted by groovinaviator
(Post 384183)
Seems like a long way to fly for Mx. I would hate to be that repo pilot... that has to be about an 8 hour flight or worse. Can a CRJ even make it from Hawaii to the mainland without extra fuel tanks installed? I should know the answer to that...
Most of the original GO planes are due for heavy maint. I think they replace gear in CAE. Yes they do need extra tanks to make it to the mainland from Hawaii. Ive flown with two CAPT recently that have been JR assigned to part 91 some 200's to CAE from PHX once they've finished trips. And no they dont go straight from Hawaii to CAE, they stop over in PHX for other work. Dont worry though, I'm sure it is very cost efficient to repo ac from hawaii to the East coast for maint.:eek: |
Originally Posted by hdale
(Post 384188)
...Yes they do need extra tanks to make it to the mainland from Hawaii.
Where/how are these tanks installed? Do you know their capacity? |
Originally Posted by groovinaviator
(Post 384190)
Where/how are these tanks installed? Do you know their capacity?
Im not sure of the capacity but the seats are removed and the tanks are put in the main cabin. The five birds that went to china took the overland route through canada, alaska and russia and then on too china. |
Originally Posted by groovinaviator
(Post 384183)
Seems like a long way to fly for Mx. I would hate to be that repo pilot... that has to be about an 8 hour flight or worse. Can a CRJ even make it from Hawaii to the mainland without extra fuel tanks installed? I should know the answer to that...
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Wow, Ive been hearing it was going to happen for a while but never seen a time line...I guess they might be serious this time.
I wish everyone over there the best of luck, regardless of the decision to switch certificates or duck and run. I enjoyed working with Almost everyone there, even some of the schedulers :eek: Take care guys and better luck at the next stop. |
Originally Posted by groovinaviator
(Post 384183)
Seems like a long way to fly for Mx. I would hate to be that repo pilot... that has to be about an 8 hour flight or worse. Can a CRJ even make it from Hawaii to the mainland without extra fuel tanks installed? I should know the answer to that...
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Originally Posted by groovinaviator
(Post 384183)
Seems like a long way to fly for Mx. I would hate to be that repo pilot... that has to be about an 8 hour flight or worse. Can a CRJ even make it from Hawaii to the mainland without extra fuel tanks installed? I should know the answer to that...
There's a story behind that...CRJ's can't make it to HI in stock configuration. The ORIGINAL plan to get them there was to go around the pacific rim... Alaska, Kamchatka Pennensula, Sakhalin Island, Japan, Midway, HI. Mesa had it all figured out, alternates and fuel stops. Right before they were going to start the repos, some genius realized that the airfield on Midway Island is "special"...it's in the middle of a bird sanctuary or something. Refueling-stop operations are extremely limited or forbidden. Basically the field is kept open by Boeing soley as a diversion site for trans-pacific ETOPS. End result, without Midway as an option, mesa had to jury-rig large fuel tanks into the rear of the pax compartment. The tanks were not permanently connected to the fuel system, a mechanic had to go along to manually switch the plumbing around. All crew members had to wear water-survival ditching suits fo the whole flight. I was on reserve, and had the opportunity to participate. I declined when they started talking about the water-survival training. I don't have a problem with water, but the combination of mesa and jury-rigged fuel plumbing set off the 'ol survival-instinct alarm bells. :eek: 37,000 Feet Over the Pacific, 1900 NM from Nowhere... CA: What's the problem? Mech: I'm trying to unscrew this fuel fitting... CA: Is it Stuck? Mech: Well, no. It's a 19mm fitting, but they only gave me a 17mm wrench... |
Originally Posted by XtremeF150
(Post 384938)
Wow, Ive been hearing it was going to happen for a while but never seen a time line...I guess they might be serious this time.
I wish everyone over there the best of luck, regardless of the decision to switch certificates or duck and run. . |
They can't let us go, we are all on the same sr. list. They already have a class in june and one in july to start getting us through.
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Sad, I flew to Merced a couple of days ago and was talking to the crew, great flight and awesome crew, we flew with 2 passengers, picked up no passengers at visalia and 2 left at merced, were they picked up 3. I was wondering if those flights would last.
Hope these guys get re trained in the jet, I was one of the I hope Mesa dies crowd, now I just wish they survive so people dont loose their jobs. |
Originally Posted by gwood
(Post 385234)
They can't let us go, we are all on the same sr. list. They already have a class in june and one in july to start getting us through.
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I'm sorry to hear that AMW is closing. I have many friends there and I wish them all the best of luck. I heard rumor that JO is trying to furlough out of senority so they won't have to train these pilots on the jet. I hope that isn't true and I wish everyone at AMW well.
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Word is that the leases are up on the origional GO! birds and they are being repoed to CAE for hvy chck and lease return preperation.
Mesa apparently got a good short term lease deal on those old Fly I birds, but it was cost prohibitive to lease them long term. Off topic, but I believe CHQ got there CRJ 200s for the COEX operation from the same source. They were all ex Fly I and on short term leases which expire this year. |
Originally Posted by Releasemaster
(Post 385875)
Off topic, but I believe CHQ got there CRJ 200s for the COEX operation from the same source. They were all ex Fly I and on short term leases which expire this year. |
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