Midway Airlines Reaches Final Destination

The hometown airline that reinvented itself time after time is converting to Chapter 7 bankruptcy -- meaning it has to sell off its assets to repay creditors.

The move ends an emotional roller coaster for employees who stayed with the company through turbulent times.

There were nothing but long faces Thursday morning outside the federal courthouse after a judge said he would order Midway to liquidate its assets.

"I'm going to spend a coouple of months trying to forget about this and figure out what to do with the rest of my life," Midway Chief Executive Officer Bob Ferguson said.

Ferguson's life had been Midway Airlines, which recently was acting a regional carrier for US Airways. But Thursday, the final death knell came after Midway had fought bankruptcy for two years.

"People don't like being associated with failure," Ferguson said, "and I'm anong those that are unhappy about it."

The judge's decision put 188 Midway employees out of work, including flight attendants, maintenance workers and pilots.

"We're very disappointed," said Capt. Mark Stewart, of the Midway Pilots Association. "Many of us had been here since Midway started up again in 1993. I started March, 95, and I am extremely disappointed."

The company parked its eight aircraft Wednesday night, pending Thursday's bankruptcy hearing. The 30 daily round trips have been canceled, and

US Airways is accommodating Midway customers on other US Airways flights.