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"You Have Chunks In Your Beer"

A friend of the blog Upgrade: Travel Better has finally had it with Midwest Airlines and its strategy of cutting its way to survival. In an epic letter to CEO Timothy Hoeksema, a miffed passenger outlines how Schlitz ruined its beer while trying to cut costs, eventually turning customers off and ruining the brand. Same thing's happening to Midwest, he argues:

Midwest has long been known for the comfort of its seating and the quality of its service. I read some time ago that Midwest was refitting its planes to offer two types of seats, but the implication was that the smaller seats were for cheaper, discount tickets and tourist travel, not business travelers. However, you recently decided to start charging an extra $50 fee for the types of seats that were standard on your flights just last month. ...

On my [recent] flight to Washington, there were nine people in the “Signature Seating” section. On my return, exactly three people. The back sections of both flights were full. The difference was so obvious that I’m surprised that, while you were refitting the 717s, you didn’t add a tail wheel to address the potential load imbalance.

In other words, it appears that your new seating charges netted you $450 in extra fees going to DC, and $150 on the return.

Hey, with 600 extra bucks in the bank, maybe Hoeksema can host a BBQ and make nice with the pilots' union before the airline implodes!

Related Stories:
· "You Have Chunks in Your Beer" [UTB]
· This Is What a Struggling Airline Looks Like [Jaunted]
· Struggling Airline Now Yanking Legroom [Jaunted]

[Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas]