Midwest Express Airlines, based in Milwaukee, continues to make progress on relaunching the defunct brand as a new airline, following 1.5 years of work so far, says EVP Rick Kummerow.

The airline has already raised US$750,000 in seed money, with plans to raise a total of $6-8 million from investors in the next year. The next round is expected to close in July 2018, and will be used to acquire an existing 121 Airline certificate.

An IPO is expected to eventually follow.

The Midwest Express Airlines team is led by industry veteran Greg Aretakis.