Sun Country Airlines has become a victim of the crisis that has followed the 11 September attacks, while the carrier that was the first victim of the industry implosion, Midway Airlines, appears ready to fly again.
Minneapolis-based Sun Country was forced to end the scheduled flights that it began in 1999 as a bold challenge to dominant Northwest Airlines. The locally owned carrier had tried to capitalise on a loyal following gained through the charter flights it had operated since 1982.
But it had never overcome Northwest's massive size at Minneapolis and the travel slump following the 11 September forced Sun Country's owners, the LaMacchia family, to put it up for sale and ground its widebody fleet while operating a limited schedule. After it received only about $300,000 of an expected $5.4 million federal payout for losses incurred during the September shutdown, Sun Country grounded itself while looking for charter customers.
On the other hand, Midway Airlines, which was in bankruptcy when it stopped flying just one day after the attacks, received $12 million in federal airline stabilisation aid and decided it will resume flights. Midway, a reincarnation of the original Chicago-based Midway Airlines, planned to use the money to resume service on six East Coast routes from its Raleigh/Durham base.
While it was planning, American Eagle moved in to Midway's hub with regional jet flights on two of Midway's proposed routes, between Raleigh/Durham and both New York LaGuardia and Boston Logan.
Source: Airline Business
