Northwest sheds Chapter 11- leaner airline

Thursday morning, Northwest Airlines was poised to become the second major United States airline to emerge from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy this spring. The carrier follows relatively close on the heels of Delta Air Lines, which shed the shackles a few weeks back.

The Minneapolis/St. Paul-based airline, with a route network stretching from the Far East to Europe, managed to lop $2.4-billion in annual costs. Much of those savings came from a workforce whose morale had been badly battered.

The move marks a bit of a milestone for the U.S. aviation industry. NW’s (the carrier’s code) emergence means this late spring of 2007 will be the first period in almost five years in which no major carriers in this country have been bound by bankruptcy.

Northwest’s future, despite the new start, is unclear. While the airline possesses one of the strongest route structures world—especially into burgeoning Far East markets—the people who fly its planes and take care of its passengers in-flight have not been happy of late. In this post-September 11, post-airline industry crash era in which we live it is passenger service that could well demark winners from losers in the airline business. It will be instructive to see how Northwest perks up the people who personify the carrier’s public face.

© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler