Northwest Airlines wants its US-China service put off

Northwest Airlines, headquartered in Minnesota, the United States, and a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, is seeking to delay or cut back its long-cherished service between the United States and China.

The airline has blamed “poor market conditions in the light of the weakened global economy” as the reason for putting off the US-China service from March 2009 to March 2010 and for delaying startup of the Detroit-Shanghai non-stop service by over two months from March 25, 2009, to June 3, 2009.

The announcement comes a month after Northwest Airlines said it would end its Seattle-to-London non-stop flight on January 8, 2009, less than six months after inaugurating the service.

Delta Air Lines bought Northwest Airlines on October 29, 2008, to create the world’s largest carrier.

In a filing in December 19, 2008, with the United States Department of Transportation, Northwest Airlines, the subsidiary of Delta Air Lines which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States, had stated: “The current economic problems that are affecting the global economy are having a particular impact on demand for US-China air transportation. Data show that the year-over-year US-China bookings declined dramatically after the close of the Summer Olympics, and advance bookings for March 2009 are down nearly 30%.”

The filing to the Department of Transportation added: “Northwest Airlines is very disappointed that it will not be able to operate its full schedule of US-China combination services in the upcoming year. However, China remains of critical strategic importance to the Delta/Northwest network.”

Northwest Airlines has become the latest airline seeking to delay or cut back US-China service, after similar requests from United States-based carriers such as American Airlines, Continental Airlines, US Airways and United Airlines.

In several of those requests, the airlines had cited high fuel prices, which hit a record high of $147 a barrel in July 2008, for delaying service to China. Since then, oil prices have fallen sharply and are currently at about $40 a barrel. Airlines, however, are still losing money thanks to the global financial crisis that has led to reduced demand for air travel.

In a statement, Northwest Airlines pointed out that the US Department of Transportation had already granted dormancy waivers to American Airlines, US Airways, United Airlines and Continental Airlines.

It is interesting to note that United States-based airlines have competed for years to get permission to launch service to China.

Northwest Airlines, headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota, near Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, the United States, has three major hubs in the US: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, and Memphis International Airport. Northwest also operates flights from a small hub in Asia at Narita International Airport near Tokyo in Japan and also operates trans-Atlantic flights in cooperation with partner KLM from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Additionally, it maintains focus city operations at Indianapolis International Airport, Honolulu International Airport, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.