Business Notes Airlines

The dwindling ranks of the U.S. airline industry lost another contender last week: Chicago-based Midway Airlines, the 12th largest U.S. carrier. Midway suddenly ceased operations after much larger Northwest Airlines pulled out of a $153 million merger deal that would have rescued the bankrupt Chicago airline, which was started in 1979. Northwest said it backed out because it had been given incorrect revenue data. But Midway is weighing a lawsuit. The collapse put Midway's 4,300 employees into unemployment lines and left passengers stranded in many of the 41 cities Midway had served.