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Northwest Vows to Maintain Flight Schedule, Mechanics Strike or Not

Posted on: Friday, 19 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

Aug. 19--Northwest Airlines' 12 flights Saturday from Raleigh-Durham International Airport could offer an early test of the carrier's plans to operate without its mechanics.

The airline's first flight out of RDU is a 6:22 a.m. departure for Detroit. That flight is about half full, according to travel agents, but a 9:04 a.m. flight is 75 percent full and a 12:11 p.m. run to the Motor City is almost sold out.

In all, Northwest offers four daily roundtrip nonstop flights from RDU to Detroit, three to Minneapolis, three to Memphis and two to Indianapolis.

The company has reassured travelers that flights will take off from its bases in Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis as usual, and that flights by its commuter partners won't be affected by a strike that could begin 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

Pam Seagle, who owns two Carlson Wagonlit travel agencies in the Triangle, said Thursday that most regular Northwest passengers don't appear concerned by the possibility of a strike.

She said her agency had not received calls from passengers requesting rebookings or refunds. If there were a strike -- and Northwest was forced to cancel flights -- Federal Aviation Administration rules require the airline to reschedule passengers, offer refunds or book them on alternate carriers, she said.

"The public has not reacted to it," Seagle said.

Nicki Bass, an independent agent with Travel In Style in Raleigh, said she has helped four or five clients who requested bookings on other carriers because of business meetings they couldn't chance missing.

"If it were American [Airlines] we'd get over 100 calls in a day," Bass said, referring to RDU's busiest carrier, which carried nearly 23 percent of the airport's passenger traffic in June.

Northwest, a popular carrier for Midwest-bound passengers and travelers heading to Asian destinations via Northwest's Detroit hub, has a 7 percent market share at RDU.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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NWAC, AMR,

Source: The News & Observer

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