Midwest unveils details of low-fare service MILWAUKEE (AP) =97 Midwest Airlines earned its reputation catering to=20 business travelers seeking flying comforts, but it's now targeting a=20 different market =97 vacationers wanting lower fares. The airline is=20 launching a low-fare service in August with nonstop flights from Milwaukee= =20 to five leisure destinations: Denver, Orlando, Fla., Las Vegas, Phoenix and= =20 Los Angeles. One-way fares will range from $92 to Orlando to $139 to=20 Phoenix, according to Midwest, which is based in Oak Creek, Wis. The=20 company will call its low-fare service Midwest Airlines Saver Service and=20 its traditional service Midwest Airlines Signature Service. "If the service= =20 is as successful as we think it will be, you can look for us to add more=20 cities in the future," said James Rankin, the new service's general=20 manager. The airline will fly 25% more passengers per low-fare flight by=20 adding an extra row of narrower seats, compared with the signature=20 service's more spacious two-by-two leather seats, said Carol Skornicka,=20 Midwest senior vice president. Travelers on the low-fare flights also will= =20 get drinks, snacks, baked-onboard cookies and the same service as the=20 signature brand, Rankin said. The company won't hire extra workers for the= =20 new service, which will use MD-80 jets. The service is one of several moves the airline is making as it tries to=20 survive an industrywide slump =97 and one others are trying, too. Delta Air= =20 Lines recently started a low-fare East Coast carrier, Song, and United=20 Airlines has similar plans. Midwest's parent, Midwest Express Holdings=20 Inc., posted a $10.5 million loss in 2002. The low-fare competition means=20 Midwest needs to make sure it differentiates its service from its=20 competitors, said Robert Lamb, an airline expert and business professor at= =20 New York University. The market at Milwaukee's Mitchell International=20 Airport also will get more crowded in July when Northwest Airlines begins=20 six new nonstop flights from the city. Mike Boyd, an aviation consultant=20 with the Boyd Group of Evergreen, Colo., said airlines that start low-fare= =20 entities generally are unsuccessful, but he thinks Midwest's service will=20 work. "Their traditional product has pretty much reached a plateau," Boyd=20 said. "Now they're going into another different product, but one that=20 doesn't confuse the customer." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************