K-C Aviation was sold in 1998 to Gulfstream Aerospace for $250 million; included were its operations in Appleton, Dallas, and Westfield, Massachusetts.

[5] The airline slowly grew, adding additional DC-9 aircraft to its fleet, including larger McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets, with a total of 24 by the end of 1996.

Skyway was a division of Mesa Airlines using Beechcraft 1900 aircraft providing service to small communities in Wisconsin and the surrounding region.

Midwest Express experienced steady growth and continued profitability, opening an additional hub in Omaha, Nebraska in early 1995.

[7] The airline's new parent company, Midwest Air Group, traded on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "MEH."

[9] In 1997, according to the Midwest Express timetable, the airline was code sharing with Virgin Atlantic Airways for flights between London Heathrow Airport and Milwaukee and Kansas City with passengers connecting between the two air carriers in Boston.

[10] After fourteen years of profit-making, Midwest Express Airlines was affected with serious financial problems after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

This service was initially offered from the Milwaukee and Kansas City hubs to leisure destinations such as Florida, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix on McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft.

The signature gourmet meal services, which had been served on china after being cooked on board, were discontinued in 2002 and replaced with a buy-on-board product.

Midwest Express was serving the following destinations in October 1984:[11] By 1985, Atlanta (ATL) had been added to the route system with service to Newark being discontinued at this time and by 1986 flights had been begun to Madison, Wisconsin (MSN), New York City LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Washington, D.C. National Airport (DCA).

[citation needed] On May 29, 2007, Midwest announced the next phase of the company's strategic plan, which offered customers the choice of Signature and Saver seating on all flights.

[23] However, Midwest announced TPG would increase its offer to $17 per share and a definitive agreement had been reached late on August 16, 2007.

Midwest failed to pay a $3.3 million[26] receivable that was due to SkyWest in June, 2008, forcing them to record a full reserve and corresponding reduction in revenue during the second quarter of that year.

The acquisition by Republic occurred just 22 months after TPG and Northwest Airlines paid $450 million for Midwest.

On September 3, 2008, Midwest Airlines announced its plan to outsource all of its flight operations to Republic Airways.

Chautauqua Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways, also began service as Midwest Connect in August 2009 using Embraer 135/145 regional jets.

They argued that the pilots had already made significant concessions to help Midwest Airlines survive and that the company's new contract offers represented draconian demands.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a group of people was trying to secure investors to relaunch the airline using the original Midwest Express name.

[36] On August 9, 2019, it was announced that Elite Airways had signed an operating agreement to provide the initial aircraft, flight crews, and maintenance service for Midwest Express.

[37] On August 28, 2019, the airline announced its initial route network,[38] which were to include Cincinnati, Omaha, and Grand Rapids, with service to commence by the year end.

The engines were white, and on the tail was a bold "M" and a script "E", representing the airline name, and the way the titles were printed on the fuselage.

[41] In 2003, Midwest Express Airlines began to create a new identity, as the first Boeing 717s were being delivered, and the DC-9 aircraft were being retired.

The company started with removing the "Express" from its name (and thus, off the fuselage), and it designed a new logo that would help point it out as a representative of Milwaukee.

However, if the logo is turned on its side, it bears a resemblance to the Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by Santiago Calatrava, which was being constructed at the same time.

The bottom of the aircraft remained grey, while the top was repainted in a deeper blue, with essentially the same gold, white, and red cheatlines separating the two.

On the lower half, there was also a blue swoop, starting at the front (looking much like another stripe), getting larger as it went back until it covered the entire rear fuselage.

The airline began serving the cookies after an employee experimented with different snacks on an empty leg of a charter flight.

[45] The airline's branded cookie dough, sold at Milwaukee-area grocery stores, was subsequently re-labeled as a Frontier product until its discontinuation.

[46] Frontier announced in 2012 that the airline would discontinue its cookie service as a cost-per-value cut, and instead added for-purchase snacks from Colorado-based suppliers.

[citation needed] Until 2002, Midwest Express served gourmet meals on china along with complimentary alcoholic beverages.