Single Page | 
Multiple Pages
Home > BizTimes Daily > Archives > June 13, 2008
Midwest Airlines hires consultant to create restructuring plan
Published June 13, 2008 - BizTimes Daily
Facing record prices for jet fuel and increasingly stiff competition, Midwest Air Partners LLC, the parent company of Midwest Airlines, has hired a consultant to work on a comprehensive corporate restructuring plan for the Oak Creek-based company.
Midwest has hired Seabury APG, a Vienna, Va.-based aviation consulting company, to analyze its predicament and make recommendations for its future, Midwest spokesman Michael Brophy confirmed today.
Midwest chairman and chief executive officer Timothy Hoeksema acknowledged the hiring of Seabury APG in a memo to employees.
Brophy said the analysis will take several weeks.
"Just like every airline in the country, we have to take a look at everything," Brophy said. "The price of fuel has been just so staggering on our business."
Brophy said the decision to seek a restructuring plan was "self-initiated" by Hoeksema and the company's leadership team and was not imposed by investors at Fort Worth-based TPG Capital, which owns a majority share of Midwest.
In April, Midwest said it will eliminate 109 jobs, or 3.5-percent of its workforce.
In addition to soaring fuel costs, Midwest is dealing with low-fare competition from AirTran Airlines, which is dramatically increasing its numbers of direct flights to and from Milwaukee.
AirTran had tried unsuccessfully to acquire Midwest last year.
Small Business Times executive Steve Jagler had written about the increasing turbulence Midwest is facing in a Milwaukee Biz Blog last week.
