Airline News

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Northwest Airlines Corp. confirmed on Thursday that it will add fuel surcharges of up to $80 for many domestic round-trip tickets.

The surcharge will apply to travel to about 7,000 city pairs beginning Jan. 10, Northwest spokeswoman Michelle Aguayo-Shannon said. She said Northwest is matching surcharges added by competitors in those markets. Northwest already has fuel surcharges in other markets, she said.

Source: usatoday.com

Labels: fuel, Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines Corp., the U.S. carrier being acquired by Delta Air Lines Inc., posted a second- quarter net loss of $377 million as it wrote down the value of its assets and spent more on fuel.

The deficit was narrower than analysts estimated when some costs are excluded, and the shares rose in early trading. With the costs, the net loss was $1.43 a share, compared with a year earlier profit of $2.15 billion because of a one-time gain tied to exiting bankruptcy, the Eagan, Minnesota-based airline said.

U.S. airlines are parking more than 465 planes and cutting 26,000 jobs to cope with a 77 percent fuel price surge over the past year. Delta, which agreed in April to buy Northwest to form the world's largest carrier, last week doubled its target for new revenue and savings from the merger to $2 billion.

"Given the current fuel environment, the merger makes even more sense," Chief Executive Officer Doug Steenland said today in a statement. New revenue and savings "will better allow the combined carrier to manage through these challenges."

Northwest, the sixth-largest U.S. carrier, recorded a writedown of goodwill of $547 million in the quarter to reduce the value of its assets, and had a gain of $250 million on its fuel hedges.

Excluding those costs and benefits, the loss was $80 million, or 30 cents a share, based on Bloomberg data. On that basis, analysts expected a loss of 50 cents a share, the average of 9 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Northwest rose 44 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $9.52 at 9:21 a.m. before regular New York Stock Exchange trading.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $3.58 billion, exceeding the $3.46 billion average estimate of 6 analysts surveyed.

Northwest ended the second-quarter with $3.3 billion in free cash and $424 million in restricted cash, little changed from the first quarter. On July 15, Northwest added $180 million more from financing some aircraft and engines.

The average cost of Northwest's jet fuel jumped 69 percent from a year earlier. Jet fuel has surpassed labor as the industry's largest expense.

Source: bloomberg.com

Labels: loss, Northwest Airlines

In a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday, friends and foes of a Delta-Northwest merger continued to press their cases. Experts say the Justice Department is unlikely to block the deal.

startribune.com

Labels: Delta, merger, Northwest Airlines

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have both recorded multi-billion dollar losses for the first three months of 2008, hit by crippling fuel costs.

news.bbc.co.uk

Labels: Delta, fuel, Northwest Airlines

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corporation announced yesterday (14 April) an agreement in which the two carriers will combine in an all-stock transaction with a combined enterprise value of $17.7 billion, creating America's premier global airline.

The new airline, which will be called Delta, will provide employees with greater job security, an equity stake in the combined airline, and a more stable platform for future growth in the face of significant economic pressures from rising fuel costs and intense competition as the two carriers said.

Source: euronews.net

Labels: Delta, merger, Northwest Airlines

British Airways will no longer be the only choice for a non-stop flight to and from London and Seattle starting June 1 when Northwest Airlines starts daily service next between Seattle-Tacoma International and London Heathrow airports.

seattletimes.nwsource.com

Labels: London, Northwest Airlines, seattle

International is the strategy of choice for mainline U.S. carriers like Northwest and Delta. Both are planning route expansions.

startribune.com

Labels: Delta, Northwest Airlines

AirTran Holdings Inc.'s pursuit of Midwest Airlines is over. Midwest Air Group Inc.'s board of directors rejected AirTran's enhanced offer and agreed to sell Midwest Airlines to TPG Capital and Northwest Airlines.

bizjournals.com

Labels: airtran, midwest airlines, Northwest Airlines

With a deadline looming, Northwest Airlines Corp. appears to be the most likely challenger to AirTran Holding Inc.'s bid to buy Midwest Air Group Inc.

ajc.com (page not found)

Labels: midwest airlines, Northwest Airlines

After canceling hundreds of flights at the end of June and July because it did not have enough pilots, Northwest Airlines says more than 1,400 pilots have applied for jobs since it began a hiring push July 24.

nytimes.com

Labels: Northwest Airlines, pilots

Northwest Airlines Corp. canceled an unusually high number of flights over the weekend, blaming a spike in pilot absenteeism for the disruption.

today.reuters.com (page not found)

Labels: Northwest Airlines, pilots

Northwest Airlines Corp. cancelled as many as 200 flights over the weekend, pointing to empty cockpits as the culprit.

marketwatch.com

Labels: cancellations, Northwest Airlines, pilots

Northwest Airlines has released a statement on its recent flight cancellations, outlining reasons for the pre-cancellation of a number of its flights and the steps it will take to remedy the situation.

Labels: cancellations, Northwest Airlines, statement

Northwest Airlines will exit its Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 31 with $2.5 billion in annual cost savings.

cnn.com (page not found)

Labels: bankruptcy, exit, Northwest Airlines