Editing Midwest Airlines (section)

===Acquisition by TPG===
In December 2006, [[AirTran Holdings]] Inc., owner of [[AirTran Airways]], made public that in December 2005 it had approached the Board of Directors of Midwest Air Group—owner of Midwest Airlines and Midwest Connect, and had asked the board to negotiate a sale of the company. That AirTran offer in 2005 was rebuffed by Midwest's board, which also rebuffed a second offer in late 2006. In December 2006, AirTran disclosed the rejection of both offers in hopes of bringing shareholder pressure on Midwest's board to reconsider, which the board recommended that shareholders reject.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fredrix|first1=Emily|title=Midwest Board to shareholders: Reject AirTran's offer|url=http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/business/20070125-0920-midwest-airtran.html|work=San Diego Union-Tribune|agency=Associated Press|date=October 9, 2012|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009024013/http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/business/20070125-0920-midwest-airtran.html|archive-date=October 9, 2012}}</ref>

On August 12, 2007, it was announced that AirTran had lost the bid for Midwest. A private equity group, headed by [[TPG Capital]] and including [[Northwest Airlines]], purchased Midwest and turned the airline into a privately funded company. The inclusion of Northwest in the investing partners required [[Competition law|anti-trust]] review from the [[United States Department of Justice]], which reviews all airline mergers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Daykin|first1=Tom|title=JS Online: Midwest to go private|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=645803|work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=August 12, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929141122/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=645803|archive-date=September 29, 2007}}</ref>

On August 14, 2007, AirTran increased its offer to the equivalent of $16.25 a share, slightly more than the $16 a share from TPG Capital investors group.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Reed|first1=Dan|title=AirTran bids again for Midwest Air - USATODAY.com|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-08-14-airtran-midwest_N.htm|work=USA Today}}</ref> However, Midwest announced TPG would increase its offer to $17 per share and a definitive agreement had been reached late on August 16, 2007.<ref>[http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=648565 Midwest announces agreement with TPG] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929125010/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=648565 |date=September 29, 2007 }} (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: August 16, 2007)</ref>

On August 17, 2007, TPG and Northwest Airlines finalized their bid for Midwest with the final offer of $17 per share and a total deal of $450 million.

On February 1, 2008, Midwest Air Group announced that the US Department of Justice had cleared the acquisition of Midwest by TPG Capital and Northwest. This finalized the acquisition; trading of Midwest Air Group on the American Stock Exchange ceased at the end of the trading day on January 31, 2008, and stockholders in Midwest received the agreed-upon $17 per share. This ended the independent existence of Midwest Airlines.

In accordance with the rest of the [[airline]] industry during the [[World oil market chronology from 2003|oil price increases since 2003]], Midwest Airlines was forced to cut back services. To do this, Midwest Airlines announced its intent to retire the 12 remaining [[McDonnell Douglas MD-80]] jets in its fleet. According to the company, the MD-80 was "a very fuel inefficient airplane and at the cost of fuel today it's just become economically infeasible to operate these planes." The MD-80s, and the crews that operated them, left Midwest in late 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/20600494.html|title=Midwest to Ground MD-80's, Slash Staff|access-date=June 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121042553/http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/20600494.html|archive-date=November 21, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In April of 2007, [[SkyWest Airlines]] began operating flights under the [[Midwest Connect]] brand alongside in-house subsidiary [[Skyway Airlines]]. Skyway shut down one year later, leaving SkyWest as Midwest's sole regional contractor. Midwest failed to pay a $3.3 million<ref>{{cite web|last1=Polek|first1=Gregory|title=SkyWest To Cut Midwest Flying: AINonline|url=http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/skywest-to-cut-midwest-flying-17885/|website=Aviation International News|date=June 17, 2011|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617002433/http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/skywest-to-cut-midwest-flying-17885/|archive-date=June 17, 2011}}</ref> 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.

Additional changes were announced on September 3, 2008, when the airline announced that it had raised $60 million from TPG, Northwest Airlines, and [[Republic Airways Holdings]]. As part of the [[outsource|outsourcing]] deal, [[Republic Airline]] operated 12 [[Embraer E-Jet family|Embraer 170]] aircraft under the Midwest Airlines brand, though Midwest had the option to convert the aircraft into a long-term lease and operate them directly. The airline also reached an agreement with [[Boeing Capital]] to return 16 Boeing 717s, leaving it at the time with a fleet of only 9 aircraft.<ref>{{cite news|title=Midwest Moves to Avoid Bankruptcy|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122048343734796937?mod=googlenews_wsj|first=Susan|last=Carey|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=September 3, 2008|access-date=September 3, 2008}}</ref>