You can make them compete against each other, even if you own them both.

May 2 according to this article in the Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...704060318/1018

Rest of the article has the same info as in the MSP paper.

*crossing my fingers that MLI is one of the routes flown with the new jets*

Although... by the time they start, I won't care anymore...

Drat... I'll be on the East Coast 'til April 29, so I miss this chance by a few days. :(

I wouldn't urge embracing the US Air model (for anything).

Presumably, each operating unit incurs additional cost. Just keeping the certificates and reg filings current can't be cheap.

And since you own them outright, I don't see why you would need to keep competition going to keep them honest -- it all goes to NW's bottom line anyway.

Yikes. Is the F/O salary comperable to other connection carrier pay?

It's actually on the high end.

Sky West FO pay grade is around $17,000 the first year, Pinnacle is about $19,000, Mesaba used to be $21,000 but they took pay cuts during the bankruptcy so it's less now.

NWA's New Compass Airlines Takes Off
 

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) -- Northwest Airlines Corp.'s new subsidiary took its first paying flight Wednesday.

Compass Airlines Flight 2002 left Washington's Dulles International Airport with 43 passengers and landed in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning. It arrived two minutes early.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070502/north...pass.html?.v=2

Not excited.....
 

I'm not excited about this news. While having first class cabin on CRJ900 might be a small positive, I've got the eerie feeling that this will be used for intercontinental flights exceeding 3 hours. Does anyone want to be on a CRJ for more than 3 hours?

Jiburi

Why can't Northwest learn from its competitor's mistakes??

I don't. But I'm not sure they would use it on flights that long. From DTW, the CRJ-900 couldn't reach the West Coast with its range of 2774km. The best it could do would be something like DTW-PHX, but that might even be pushing it depending on loads and fuel reserves.

From MSP, the CRJ-900 could reach any point in the CONUS, all Canadian destinations, and northern Mexico. Now, the longest nonstop from MSP in the CONUS is MSP-SFO which is just over a three hour flight. But the flights to the coasts are all such high demand flights that they'd be wasting a RJ on such a long flight when they're obviously filling (and overselling) 757s and A320s.

I think we might see a few routes approaching 3 hours, but they may be to destinations that are over-served right now, or perhaps they'll use it to open up more nonstop flights to destinations not currently served (MSP-RNO perhaps?). In those cases, I think the CRJ makes sense.

I don't believe you'll see NW put the CRJ on MSP-LAX/SEA/SFO routes. :)

Isn't MSP-SAN longer than SFO???

No.

http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=M...OR=&MAP-STYLE=

Correction and mea culpa
 

SFO longer by 57 miles acccording to the mileage calculator.

sounds like these pilots make less than the hilton shuttle drivers.