But pilots are outraged over fleet reshuffling

Financially troubled Midwest Airlines said it has arranged for up to $60 million in additional financing in a deal that has the airline’s pilots crying foul. A Midwest official told the Milwaukee Journal that the financing package will help the airline avoid a Chapter 11 filing. The new capital will come from TPG Capital, Midwest’s majority owner; and from Indianapolis-based Republic Airways. But as part of the agreement, Midwest will start using a dozen of Republic’s 76-seat Embraer 170 jets, staffed by Republic crews for at least a year. They will begin flying on Midwest Connect routes next month. That means Midwest will lay off more of its own pilots, from whom it is already seeking substantial pay cuts. In addition, Midwest said it has agreed with Boeing Capital to return 16 of the 25 717s it is currently flying, leaving it with just nine of the planes – which Midwest is reconfiguring into two-class cabins by adding more seats to each plane. Midwest’s pilots union called the financing deal’s terms “catastrophic news,” not only because of the additional layoffs, but also because Midwest management “restated its continued intent to wring drastic, draconian concessions from our pilots, holding our very jobs hostage as part of its deal with Republic,” the pilots said in a statement. The union said it is “exploring all our options to protect our pilots and hold management accountable for the deal it made with us in 2000, and the concessions we made during our company’s restructuring in 2003.”