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Northwest Airlines which has been shedding costs and cutting flights in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, expects to start growing early next year.
That could mean more Northwest flights at its Detroit Metro Airport hub, where the carrier has cut nearly 90 flights from its daily schedule since May of last year. It also means Northwest won't have to furlough more pilots this year, according to a memo the airline sent to pilots last month.
By early next year, Northwest plans to increase flights for its fleet of Boeing 757s. The carrier did not say how many flights it will add because it is still determining the new routes and schedules, according to the memo.
"It's a move in the right direction," said Minneapolis-based airline expert Terry Trippler.
The expansion, Trippler said, is part of Northwest's climb back to being the nation's fourth-largest airline. Continental Airlines took that spot this year, as Northwest dropped to No. 5.
Since May last year, Northwest has cut back its daily flights by 14% to 1,246 across the board.
With fewer flights, Northwest's planes are filling up.
On Friday, the carrier filled 93.5% of its seats, an all-time high at Northwest for the number of seats filled in a day. The carrier expects to break more records this summer.
Meanwhile, Northwest travelers can look forward to their last flight on a DC10. Northwest plans to retire its fleet of 15 aging 273-seat DC10s by January next year, the memo said. The carrier stopped regularly using the DC10 out of Detroit Metro last fall, said Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch.
Northwest will replace its DC10s, which on average are 25.5 years old, with 12 new Airbus A330 planes and three Boeing 747-400s it plans to put back into service.
Northwest's DC10s typically are used on international routes, including flights between Amsterdam and Mumbai, Minneapolis and London and Memphis and Amsterdam.
Amid volatile fuel prices, the Airbus planes will save Northwest money. The planes burn up to 30% less fuel than the DC10, Ebenhoch said.
The fleet changes and expansion will take place if the airline's flight attendants and ramp workers ratify wage-cutting contracts, the memo said.
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