RDU INTERNATIONAL — Just before midnight Monday, employees at Midway Airlines started getting phone calls, alerting them they would be out of a job effective immediately.

The company announced it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The announcement comes as a shock to many people in the Triangle who for for or depend on the airline.

Midway says it will cut their work force in half, laying off about 700 employees.

The company, which is based out of Raleigh, says it will reduce its fleet by 17 aircraft and stop service to nine destinations.

Midway blames a major drop in business traffic, which has been experienced by most airlines this year. Several airlines have reduced their fares significantly to combat the problem, and this week, many of those airlines announced they would eliminate Saturday night stayovers.

Starting today, Midway will stop service to the following cities:

Starting Sunday:

Starting Monday:

Starting August 31:

Daily flights to 20 other cities where Midway flies will also be reduced.

In a press release, Robert Ferguson, the company's president and CEO, said the following:

"Despite economic conditions that have made a portion of our route network unprofitable and unsustainable, we are confident we will return profitability by reorganizing and reducing our route network to traditionally profitable routes."

Midway says it will refund all tickets on flights that have been canceled. The earliest cancellation is a 6:30 a.m. flight scheduled to Washington-Dulles Tuesday morning.

Midway is scheduled to hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m.