Special Delivery

I was a passenger on one of your flights departing La Guardia Airport in New York for Milwaukee. The flight departed on time, but upon approaching Milwaukee, the airplane was unable to land due to a severe blizzard and diverted to Appleton. I assume that at this point you are bracing yourself for a torrent of complaints. Rather, this letter is written in appreciation of your employees and to provide you with an illustration of “The best care in the air.”

Rabbi Peretz Zachai, my colleague at the Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study, and I were returning from New York City. At approximately 9:15 a.m., we needed to attend to our prayers, which we had hoped to perform in Milwaukee had we arrived on time. Upon approaching the pilot to apprise him of our intention to pray, he escorted us to a secluded area where we could have privacy.

As the departure from Appleton continued to be delayed, a problem arose. As Orthodox Jewish Rabbis and Sabbath observers, we needed be in our homes by 4:00 p.m., or rent quarters in Appleton for the day. We are not allowed to travel after dusk on Friday until sundown Saturday. At approximately 1:00 p.m., I approached the pilot to see what the chances were of our arriving in Milwaukee before 4:00 p.m. He shared with me his opinion that there was good reason to doubt we would arrive in time. I responded by saying we would probably be deplaning to travel by car.

After a few minutes, the pilot approached to inform us that he had alerted the National Car Rental desk that we would be needing a car and that they should charge us the Midwest Airlines corporate rate with no drop-off fee. He also said that he would attempt to have the luggage uploaded and taken to the rental desk. And so it was.

On behalf of Rabbi Zachai and myself, I express our thanks to your employees and particularly your pilot.

By the way, we reached our destination at approximately 3:50 p.m.

Sincerely yours,
Rabbi Yehuda Cheplowitz
Milwaukee

THE KEY IS GOOD SERVICE
On November 1, I flew from Boston to Milwaukee and mistakenly left my keys at the security checkpoint in Boston. Once I arrived at my destination, I contacted a Midwest employee in Boston, and she helped me contact the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA explained that if I did not pick up my keys that same day, it would be unlikely that I would recover them.

In Milwaukee and unable to return to Boston, the Midwest employee volunteered to pick up my keys at the security checkpoint and have them waiting for me to pick up when I returned from my trip.

That added measure of service was exceptionally valuable to me. Replacing car keys can take days, even weeks. I also had other keys attached to the ring that were very important and would have been exceptionally difficult to replace.

Your employee truly provided “The best care in the air.” I want you to know that it is the excellent service of your employees that keeps individuals like me flying over 50,000 miles each year on Midwest Airlines.
— Brian Wolf
Norfolk, Mass.

FREQUENT FLYERS IMPRESSED
I fly almost every week on business, but this was the first time I ever booked a flight on Midwest. It was the best experience I have had on an airline in many years. Your seats are comfortable, the cookies were excellent and most of all, the two flight attendants were in tune with the needs of the passengers; they were the most polite and professional attendants I have ever seen. Thanks to those two wonderful ladies, you can bet the next chance I get, I will book on Midwest.
—Michael Jones
Hagerstown, Md.

THANK YOU COOKIE
My family and I had the pleasure of flying Las Vegas to Milwaukee. I would like to express my appreciation to Midwest Airlines and the crew. The flight attendants were helpful and caring to all the passengers on board. I especially liked the portable DVD players and, of course, the warm cookies! When I told the flight attendant she was spoiling us, she brought me a specially wrapped bag of cookies with a thank you note. It brought to mind the kind of service that was given when flying was an adventure, not a chore. Thank you for redeeming my faith in air travel.
—Connie Halal
Canton, Conn.

DROP US A LINE: mymidwest@midwestairlines.com