Northwest Airlines plans to establish a separate unit that will fly new, regional jets to smaller cities that it current
Northwest Airlines plans to establish a separate unit that will fly new, regional jets to smaller cities that it currently serves as soon as 2007.
Published: 05 Jan 2006
Northwest Airlines plans to establish a separate unit that will fly new, regional jets to smaller cities that it currently serves as soon as 2007.
Northwest hopes to start the airline, temporarily called NewCo, next year, with all 105 planes operating by 2010.
The airline has indicated about its plans to fly 70-to 100-seat jets in medium-sized markets that Northwest says are key to its growth, according to a company newsletter. The airline said it is restricted by a contract with its pilots to fly aircraft of this size, and therefore the carrier’s fleet consists of planes that are the wrong size for its core markets.
It added that about 100 of its domestic markets are well-suited to 70- to 100-seat aircraft. According to media, Northwest, however, aims to start a regional carrier separate from itself, saying it does not “make economic sense” to bring 70-seat planes into its mainline fleet. The new airline would fly mainly out of Northwest’s major hubs in Detroit, Minneapolis and Memphis to small and medium-sized markets across the United States and Canada.
The airline continues to count on overseas markets like Asia and Europe where airfares are higher than within the United States, the company said that there are 100 domestic markets like Minneapolis to Albuquerque, N.M., that could be profitably served by smaller planes. “Many cities in that network are too small to profitably operate our Airbus fleet, and too large for our 50-seat Canadair regional jets,” wrote Northwest Airlines chairman Doug Steenland in the newsletter.
Northwest envisions that by 2010, it could have 105 planes in its “NewCo” operation with 60 planes in the 70- to 76-seat range and 45 in the 100-seat range.
According to detnews.com, Airline analyst Michael Boyd of Evergreen, Colo., said a new airline makes sense financially. He expects Northwest and the pilots will reach a settlement.