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Northwest Airlines: Flights
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Northwest Airlines has responded to recent problems by implementing schedule changes. The carrier canceled more than 1,000 flights in the last week of June; explanations ranged from poor weather conditions to too few pilots.
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Sept. 16, 2006: Northwest Airlines flight attendants are appealing a federal judge's decision to block their threatened strike. Northwest was happy with the judge's decision and called for talks with the flight attendants. But the union says it won't negotiate unless it has the right to strike.
Previous to the recent agreements, Northwest provided employees with stock in exchange for concessions. For example, In 1993 Northwest's pilots, ground workers and flight attendants received stock and seats on the board of directors in exchange for pay cuts. As part of the agreement, Northwest was supposed to buy back these preferred shares in 2003 but refused to do so citing financial distress. Flight attendants, ground workers and mechanics still holding those preferred shares will now get shares of new Northwest stock (estimated at a combined value of $277 million).
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Northwest currently has one of the oldest fleets among all major air carriers, with a fleet average airframe age of 18.3 years. This is due, in part, to a large fleet of Douglas DC-9s dating from the 1970s and -80s whic were acquired via the Republic Airlines merger in 1986. In an attempt to extend their useful lives, Northwest replaced the aging interiors of the DC-9 fleet in the mid-1990s with all-new materials similar to those in the cabin of the Boeing 717. DC-9 aircraft are being retired at a rate of about 30 a year as they reach their maximum flight ratings [6]. Exactly how the airline will replace them in the long run is still an open question, but at present Northwest seems to be moving towards a solution using CRJs operated by its Northwest Airlink subsidiaries [7]. Excluding its DC-9 fleet, the airline's average fleet age is 9.9 years [8].
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Sept. 7, 2006:Northwest Airlines recalls all of its more than 1,100 furloughed flight attendants. The move to boost the ranks of available staff comes as the bankrupt carrier awaits a judge's ruling whether the workers can strike.
Northwest Flight 1652, scheduled to depart Washington National for Minneapolis at 6:36 AM this morning, left the gate on-time. But just as it turned toward the runway, a loud, hacking sound – kind of like a handsaw cutting through sheet metal - began vibrating through the cabin. From my seat – 14D -it felt like it was emanating from the right wing, and it continued for a solid five minutes before the captain announced that we would be returning to the gate so that a maintenance crew could cool off an overheating hydraulic pump.
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