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Midwest Death Watch: This Is What a Struggling Airline Looks Like

This Friday-night flight to Milwaukee boasted just five passengers, leaving plenty of leg room and plenty of cookies, but also a new wealth of worries for the struggling Wisconsin carrier.

When we asked a gate attendant why there were so few people waiting in the terminal to depart, she said, "Well, because it's so late." This was at 8:30 pm, though, admittedly, right around last call at the airport bar.

Our flight wasn't one of the newly outsourced routes officially taken over Wednesday by Republic Airlines, and potential Midwest passengers may well be scared by the subcontractor. Republic is more like an octopus of regional operations, a former subsidiary of Frontier which currently flies for Midwest as Midwest Connect (to New York-LaGuardia, Denver and Washington-Reagan among others) and for US Airways as US Airways Express. On the bright side, they're hiring!

Related Stories:
· First-Person Flight Reviews: Passenger Says Midwest Service Not Suffering Yet [Jaunted]
· Midwest Job Outsourcing Starts October 1 [WTMJ]
· Airline Open Thread: Is Midwest Still Worth Paying A Premium For? [Jaunted]