Midwest Express Airlines: The Best Care in the Air?

The premium carrier Midwest Express costs just slightly more than other carriers for leisure airfare, and delivers a world of difference. After enjoying the airline's justifiably famous service, legroom and fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, I'm seriously considering making it my only choice for air travel.

Midwest Express, soon to be renamed Midwest Airlines, operates from Omaha, Milwaukee and Kansas City hubs. This is no regional airline; it offers nonstops to both coasts from Milwaukee and to the East Coast from Omaha and Kansas City. The name change, coming in 2003, is designed to remove the false regional-carrier stigma that the company says costs it millions of dollars a year in lost bookings.
My $517.50 unrestricted fare from Omaha to Washington D.C. for staff training came with fixings it's hard to get in the lower classes of multi-class carriers. (The same trip on a no-refunds, no-changes ticket can be made in August for $233.50, a check of Midwest's quick and efficient Web site revealed.) The airline has just one class: superior. Besides the amenities, you get an aircraft (mostly McDonnell-Douglas DC-9s) that feels more spacious simply for having no section dividers, and a uniformly wide center aisle.

The brown leather seats look rich but aren't impressive in comfort terms. They're not uncomfortable, but neither are they cushy. Generous legroom makes up for any seating drawbacks, however; my 6'2" frame fit nicely, with a good four inches to spare ahead of my knees. All the tray tables fold out from the armrest in the two-by-two seats, which helps avoid jarring interruptions in computing or eating when the person in front reclines his or her seat. The center armrest is big enough for two large men to share.

Meal service starts shortly after takeoff, with red and white wine offered from real 750-milliliter bottles in real glass stemware (customized with a square base, so as not to slide around as much). On offer for my flight were a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay blend, both of southeastern Australia's Lindeman's Cawarra label. My wine knowledge extends only to knowing at a taste whether I like a wine, and I liked the Chardonnay blend. The previous night's too-short rest and the upcoming busy day didn't allow a test of the Cabernet. The possibly mis-named "lunch" (served around 4:30 p.m.) consisted of a chicken "Caesar" salad -- definitely mis-named, as no Caesar dressing was present. In its place was "sour cream herb" dressing, which tasted just fine. Shredded parmesan, boiled egg slices, tomatoes, olives and cucumbers surrounded a chicken breast atop Romaine lettuce. The chicken -- moist, dense and flavorful -- was a pleasant surprise.

The meal presentation recalls some of the glamour of a bygone aviation era. The salad came on real china, with metal fork and spoon and a plastic knife. Hang on to that large linen napkin -- you'll need it in just a few minutes.
That's when the renowned Midwest Express fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies come out. Each passenger gets two (probably more, if you asked), and the gooey chocolate gets all over your fingers. Thus the retained linen napkin. But the cookies, even piping hot, are firm enough to fill the mouth with decadent satisfaction while not falling apart in one's hands. A colleague told me these are the best chocolate chip cookies she's ever had. She hasn't had mine yet, but they're a close second.

Service from the well-attired flight attendants was quick and efficient, if not overtly friendly. Unfortunately, the Midwest Express flight crews share with their colleagues at other carriers an affinity for talking too long, too loudly and too often on the intercom system. They should read my friendly suggestions to the airlines on flight announcements, and take it to heart.