Would you consider a nearly 15 percent reduction more "massive"?...
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Northwest Airlines Corp. has cut more flights in the past year on a percentage basis than any other major carrier as it seeks to cut costs, according to a report by USA Today.
The paper studied flight-schedule data from Back Aviation Solutions, an industry research firm based in Virginia. The results: Between July 2005 and July 2006, Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest (Pink Sheets: NWACQ) went from 2,911 flights per day to 2,481 flights, a 14.8 percent decline.
Delta and Northwest account for nearly 90% of passenger capacity at Memphis International Airport.
NWA stresses that while its Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul hubs took significant schedule cuts, Memphis has seen very minimal cuts.
"In our summer 2006 schedule, Northwest and (regional partner) Northwest Airlink offer 223 flights per day from Memphis, 11 fewer than the summer of 2005, a change of just five percent," NWA spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch told Memphis Business Journal. "Of our three domestic hubs, by far, Memphis has experienced the smallest reduction in the number of flights."
Delta Air Lines Inc. (Pink Sheets: DALRQ) went from 4,854 flights to 4,198 flights, a 13.5 percent decline. Together the two airlines, which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the same day last September, have cut more than 1,000 daily flights as they restructure.
The report noted that Northwest has cut back hard in markets where it faces tough competition, such as Denver, and has exited markets like Reno, Nev., and Gainesville, Fla., altogether. It has reduced its international flights overall, but beefed up flights in some overseas markets, such as its Japan-Guam route.
