revenue. Midway flourished under the leadership of David R. Hinson, who was its chief executive officer from 1985 to 1991. In 1984, Boeing 737-200 flights to the Caribbean were being operated by subsidiary Midway Express while DC-9 domestic jet service was flown Midway Metrolink. In 1986 the company assisted in setting up a successful regional affiliate, Midway Connection, as a feeder operating commuter turboprop aircraft with service to small communities in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This carrier was established following the bankruptcy of Chicago Air, a regional carrier which attempted a similar, but independent, feeder operation earlier in 1986. On a June 1988 weekday, Midway scheduled 116 nonstop flights into Midway Airport from 25 airports, along with 75 Midway Connection nonstops from 17 other airports. They flew Chicago Midway (MDW) - Miami (MIA) - Saint Croix (STX) - St. Thomas (STT) round trip as well as Chicago Midway (MDW) - Fort Lauderdale (FLL) - Nassau (NAS) round trip ; aside from those, all Chicago flights were nonstop to and from Midway Airport. Midway Airlines′ peak year was 1989, when it flew 10.1 billion revenue passenger-kilometers, compared to 0.6 billion in 1981. Midway Airlines was noted for friendly employees and attentive service, and its Chicago South Side passengers were fiercely loyal to their hometown airline. Some of the signature in-flight service items were after-dinner chocolate wafer mints and hot hand towels for the entire cabin, both of which had originally caught on with Midway's business clientele. In June 1989, Midway Airlines agreed to purchase a hub operation at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for $100 million along with $100 million worth of DC-9 jets from the bankrupt Eastern Air Lines. The company began hub operations in Philadelphia in November 1989. However, less than a year later, competition with the US Airways Philadelphia hub, coupled with rising jet fuel prices following the August 1990 IraqI invasion of Kuwait, caused the company to quit its Philadelphia hub. In October 1990 it sold its Philadelphia assets to USAir for $67.5 million. Citing the high price of jet fuel during the 1991 Gulf War and a drop in passengers in the recession that followed, the airline filed Chapter 11 in March 1991. In reorganization, Midway attempted to sell itself to Northwest Airlines. Northwest pulled out of negotiations on November 12, 1991, however, and Midway ceased operations the next day. Its bankruptcy was re-filed