My take on the whole thing is this. Yes, NW has older planes. That is the fact. The other facts are that they have a higer load factor and are closer to profitability than any of the other big 6. They definitly do not look like they are on the road to Bankruptcy. So I will take the older seats and "dirtier" looking cabins and even food that is not "gourmet"(I can eat fancy on the ground when I land), in exchange for the "security" that my airline of choice will still be around when I want to use all those miles I have accumulated.