Carrier Flew All Its Scheduled Flights For 12 Days In September

What a difference adequate staffing can make. After struggling with an atrocious rate of flight delays and cancellations through the summer, Northwest Airlines rebounded nicely in September... setting a new record of 12 days without a single cancellation.

The Detroit News reports that figure breaks the carrier's earlier monthly record, set in May 2003 with six perfect days. The carrier operates roughly 1,300 flights a day, and typically averages a cancellation rate of 1-2 percent per day.

It wasn't long ago those numbers seemed all-but unattainable for the Eagan, MN-based airline. As ANN reported, Northwest was hit with a spate of cancellations through June and July -- brought about by scheduling conflicts and crew shortages. 

The carrier blamed absent pilots for its problems; pilots replied cuts in personnel at the carrier -- intended to add to profits -- pushed pilots to fly up to their monthly legal limits well before the month was over, with not enough reserve staff to pick up the slack. Those pilots were also disinclined to work overtime to help out, union reps said, given the pay cuts they took while the carrier was in bankruptcy... and the bonuses CEO Doug Steenland pocketed this year.

It would be overly optimistic to call current relations between Northwest's pilots and management "amicable"... but things are at least more civil. Northwest and its pilots' union agreed to changes in work rules, overtime pay and hiring in August; the carrier also cut capacity somewhat, to compensate for a lack of pilots.

While 12 days in a row without a cancellation is an impressive figure for such a large airline, more so is the fact Northwest is on track to end 2007 with the highest number of "perfect" days in its history.

As of press time, the carrier had equaled its best 100 percent completion factor, also set back in 2003, at 17 days flying ALL of its flights.

Also noteworthy is the fact Northwest completed 99.7 percent of its mainline passenger flights in September... the highest number of completions seen by the airline in some time.

Which means, at least for the moment, that if you have a ticket on Northwest... you probably will make it to your destination. Faint praise...

FMI: www.nwa.com