The bankrupt carrier's intentions include shrinking its mainline fleet, but there could be trouble ahead with its pilots as a result.
By Liz Fedor, Star Tribune
Last update: March 16, 2007 – 11:46 PM
Northwest Airlines passengers will be traveling more frequently on regional jets in coming years, according to a new fleet plan assembled by the carrier.
Northwest intends to shrink its mainline fleet -- aircraft used for domestic and international flying and seating 100 or more people -- from 375 planes in 2006 to 337 in 2008. Northwest also plans to substantially increase its fleet of regional planes, which seat up to 76 passengers -- from 226 planes in 2006 to 262 in 2008.
The airline also is looking to phase out one-third of its aging DC-9 planes within two years.
The changes are the key elements of the fleet plan, which was distributed by union leaders Friday to Twin Cities-based pilots and obtained by the Star Tribune.
While the number of mainline aircraft will shrink, Northwest is planning to deploy a greater portion of those planes for international flights.
The airline is projecting that aircraft used solely for overseas flights will grow from 61 this year to 74 by 2011.
The new large aircraft will include the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Northwest plans to be the first North American airline to operate the Boeing 787, with eight of those planes arriving in 2008 and 18 in the fleet by 2011.
In a bankruptcy court filing, Northwest said its international flight capacity is expected to grow an average of 4.3 percent a year between this year and 2010. Meanwhile, domestic flying is projected to decline by an average of 2.7 percent a year.
Flying done by regional affiliates is expected to mushroom by 16.9 percent a year, Northwest said.
In placing greater emphasis on international flights, Northwest is adopting a strategy similar to that of Delta Air Lines, which filed for bankruptcy on the same day as Northwest in September 2005.
Both airlines are preparing to leave bankruptcy in the first half of this year and have focused on building their more profitable international routes rather than the domestic arena, where they face many low-fare competitors. Delta has added more than 50 international routes in recent months.
During its bankruptcy, Northwest has created a subsidiary -- Compass Airlines -- to operate some domestic flights with 76-seat jets. Northwest and its pilots union battled over that flying. The union is negotiating the pilots' contract at Compass, but Northwest maintains that it will save money by having a separate subsidiary.
Compass is scheduled to receive 36 new Embraer jets. In addition, Northwest's Mesaba subsidiary will operate 36 new Canadair Regional Jets in place of the old four-engine Avros that Northwest removed from Mesaba's fleet. The CRJs also seat 76 people.
In a February interview, Northwest CEO Doug Steenland said the new 76-seaters "will provide our customers with a
regional airplane that will have a first-class section and that will have a
cabin feel of a mainline airplane."
A Northwest spokesman declined Friday to comment on the expected increase in the size of the regional fleet and planned reduction in the number of larger aircraft.
Throughout contract negotiations with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) in 2005 and 2006, Northwest management emphasized the need to acquire 76-seat jets to fill the gap in its fleet between 50-seat and 100-seat aircraft.
Northwest's fleet included 115 DC-9s, which seat 100 to 125 passengers, in 2006. That number is expected to drop to 78 next year and then level off to 75 through 2011.
The fleet plan is raising questions and concerns among Northwest pilots, who took a 15 percent pay cut in late 2004 and ratified a multiyear contract last year that included an additional 23.9 percent pay cut.
"The current fleet plan is different from the one presented last spring during the bankruptcy contract vote," Northwest ALPA Council 1 leaders said in a Friday memo to Twin Cities-area pilots. "Management indicates that DC-9 replacement aircraft are one of their top priorities, but that isn't addressed in the plan," the local council union leaders said.
Liz Fedor • 612-673-7709 •
lfedor@startribune.com
