
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 27, 1991                   TAG: 9103270072
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short

MIDWAY AIRLINES SEEKS HAVEN FROM CREDITORS/ THIRD AIRLINE SINCE DECEMBER FILE

Midway Airlines Inc., a regional carrier that soared to success with low fares but ran into turbulence during the Persian Gulf crisis, said Tuesday it had filed for reorganization under the federal bankruptcy code.

It became the third U.S. airline to file for court protection from creditors under Chapter 11 since December.

Midway, which serves 53 destinations in the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas, blamed the move on the decline in air travel and increases in jet fuel prices that followed the onset of the gulf crisis last summer.

Chairman David R. Hinson told reporters Midway had $40 million in financing to cover operating costs during the reorganization, which would enable it to continue "business as usual." All tickets will be honored and no flights will be canceled, he said.

In its filing late Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago, Midway listed assets of $7.8 million and liabilities of $22.5 million.

The International Air Transport Association announced in Geneva that airlines worldwide lost more than $1 billion in February alone, mostly because of the effects of the Gulf War. Fuel prices soared in the early stages of the crisis and travelers stayed home out of fear of Iraq-inspired terrorism. The situation prompted two other airline companies to file for protection from creditors, Pan Am Corp. in January and Continental Holdings Inc. in December.

by CNB