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Northwest Airlines, its financial condition worsening, filed for bankruptcy-court protection Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, a first in the history of the 79-year-old company and a fate it narrowly averted in the early 1990s. The filing, which was preceded by defaults on some payments due in the past few days, is expected to help the nation's fourth-largest airline by traffic reduce its towering labor costs and restructure its aircraft lease payments and other expenses. Delta Air Lines, the No. 3 carrier, also sought protection from its creditors Thursday. (See related story.) The two join UAL Corp.'s United...

Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines are both preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as Wednesday, people close to both companies said today. Northwest and Delta are each finishing the details of their bankruptcy cases, including the financing that they will require to operate under bankruptcy protection, these people said. That could cause delays, but the fundamental work of preparing each bankruptcy case is complete, they said. A spokesman for Northwest, the nation's fifth-biggest airline, said today that the company had made no decision on a Chapter 11 filing. Likewise, a spokeswoman for Delta, which is the third-biggest carrier,...

DETROIT (AP) -- Northwest Airlines employees on strike for more than two weeks took their picket line to the streets Monday during two Labor Day parades in Detroit, hoping their presence would help rally support from other unions. "With the assault on labor right now, it was important for us to be out with all the unions," Bob Rose, president of Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 5 in Detroit, said in describing the more than 100 Northwest union members, family and friends who showed up to march in the parades. Northwest mechanics, cleaners and custodians have been on strike since...

Alarmed by Northwest Airlines' worsening financial situation, leaders of the pilots' union -- which already joined managers last year in agreeing to $300 million in givebacks -- voted yesterday to reopen contract negotiations soon with the airline... In a filing late yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the airline said it expects its fuel costs this year to increase 50% over 2004, rising to $3.3 billion. Earlier this summer, Northwest forecast that its fuel expenses would be about $3 billion for the year. Now, the carrier says it likely will spend more than $900 million on fuel in the...

When O.V. Delle-Femine led his mechanics out on strike against Northwest Airlines earlier this month, he thought he had a pretty good chance of winning public support. After all, the members of his union, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, were not crazed militants striking for huge wage increases. They were senior mechanics averaging decades of experience. All they wanted was to stop layoffs and wage cuts. Delle-Femine himself--72 years old and known as "Dell"--is something of a character. He reckoned that he and his small union would appeal as underdogs. And they had a final advantage: The fourth largest airline...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Police said they believe two tires may have been tampered with on a Northwest Airlines Boeing 757, an incident perhaps related to the nearly week-old mechanics strike against the nation's fourth-largest carrier. On Wednesday, Northwest employees discovered finding two landing gear tires deflated on a 757-200 aircraft during a preflight inspection at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the airline said in a statement. Northwest said no other damage was reported. The Maryland Transportation Authority Police is investigating the tire deflation as a crime, a spokeswoman said. "Based on information and evidence collected at the scene, the police believe that...

Independent Business Travel Expert Reports; Only 15 FAA Inspectors Have Been Assigned to Northwest Worldwide Laconia NH August 22, 2005 - During the first weekend of a mechanics' strike, Northwest Airlines' on-time performance fell to about 50 percent, according to figures reported in JoeSentMe.com, an independent online publication for business travelers edited by Joe Brancatelli, former editor of business travel publication The Frequent Flier. This compares with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figure of 78 percent for Northwest's average on-time performance over the first six months of 2005. Brancatelli's tracking of 99 randomly chosen Northwest U.S. and Canadian flights...

ROMULUS, Mich. Four tires blew out on a Northwest Airlines jet this afternoon while it was landing at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The incident occurred the same day unionized mechanics went on strike against Northwest. Airline spokeswoman Jennifer Bagdade (BAG'-dad) says Flight 210 from Seattle was carrying 222 passengers when it landed a few minutes before 4 p-m. No injuries were reported. The Boeing 757 stopped on a taxiway with buses lined up to take passengers to the terminal. Bagdade says it's too early to speculate on the cause of the blowout. Northwest is the nation's fourth-largest airline, and the primary...

BREAKING NEWS: Northwest Airlines mechanics walk off the job. Full article coming shortly.

Aug 19, 5:15 AM (ET) GUAM (Reuters) - Three people were injured when the front landing gear of a Northwest Airlines plane carrying 318 passengers collapsed on landing at Guam international airport on Friday, officials said. The Boeing 747 was evacuated shortly after arriving from Japan's Narita airport, said Rolenda Faasuamalie, a spokeswoman for Guam international airport. "Northwest personnel activated an emergency slide and passengers were evacuated," she said. There was no immediate statement from Northwest Airlines on the accident. The Pacific island's airport was closed and all international arrivals diverted to the nearby Saipan island or the U.S. airforce...

Talks with Mechanics Resume amid Northwest Airlines Concerns about Maintaining Schedule During Strike Washington August 15, 2005 - Last-ditch negotiations between Northwest Airlines and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) began today amid the carrier's stated concerns about maintaining its flight schedule during a strike that looms on August 20. Northwest has publicly stated that its plan to use replacement mechanics and additional outsourcing will keep the airline running smoothly, but the company's quarterly financial report issued on August 9 said there can be no assurances" Northwest will be able "to continue operating a full schedule in the event of...

Northwest Mechanics Rally Against Replacement WorkersAirport Management Expects Airline To Operate During StrikePOSTED: 6:12 pm EDT August 15, 2005 DEARBORN, Mich. -- Several mechanics from Northwest Airlines rallied outside a Dearborn hotel on Monday afternoon, Local 4 reported. The picket took place outside the Dearborn Hyatt Regency on Town Center Drive, where union officials said more than 100 replacement workers were being housed. "Detroit is a union town and to bring scabs in and to keep them in their hotel is an insult to every union worker in this country, not only this town," said Bob Rose, president of the...

In the airline industry, 9-11 is a dividing line as profound as the K-T boundary in paleontology. The asteroid impact 65 million years ago which caused the Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction event ended the reign of dinosaurs. In the future, 8-21-2005 may be viewed as even more significant for the airline industry, and possibly the entire US economy than 9-11. August 21, 2005 is likely to be the first day of operation by Northwest Airlines (NWAC) after imposing 26% pay-cuts on its mechanics. Northwest claims that it has enough replacement mechanics lined up so that its’ flight schedule will not be...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A Northwest Airlines DC-10 made an emergency landing in Tehran on Sunday after an indicator detected a fire in the cargo hold in what turned out to be a false alarm, a spokesman said. No injuries were reported, and the plane later took off and landed safely at its destination in the Netherlands, some eight hours late. The plane, which was en route from Mumbai, India, to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, had 255 passengers and crew, according to a spokesman for the Iranian civil aviation authority. The crew decided to land the plane in the Iranian capital...

TEHRAN, Iran — A Northwest Airlines DC-10 (search) made an emergency landing in Tehran (search) on Sunday after reporting a technical problem in its cargo section, airport officials said. The plane was en route from Bombay, India, to Amsterdam, Netherlands, with 255 passengers and crew, according to a spokesman for the Iranian civil aviation authority. No injuries were reported. U.S. carriers do not serve Iran (search) because of American economic sanctions. Washington broke ties with Iran shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution when militants seized the U.S. Embassy and held 52 hostages for 444 days.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- In the latest cost-cutting move by a struggling airline carrier, Northwest Airlines Corp. is nixing pretzels on its domestic flights, months after it stopped serving free meals. Beginning June 9, coach passengers who want anything other than soda will have to pay for it. They can get a 3-ounce bag of trail mix for $1. Northwest Airlines Corp. spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Friday the airline has no immediate plans to stop offering soda for free. Ebenhoch said pulling the free pretzels should save $2 million a year. Northwest, the nation's fourth-largest airline, lost $458 million in the...

It was as plain as black and white. It was a hate crime. When 30 black teenagers from Marine Park Middle School, most of them girls, chased five white girls from St. Edmund's off a Marine Park basketball court and across a Brooklyn street - punching, kicking, slapping, pulling hair and screaming, "honky bitches," "black power" and "white crackers" - it was a racial attack. It was about hate. Police officers who responded to the scene on March 30, at approximately 4 p.m., arrested five blacks. They were charged with simple assault. Two of the white girls were treated at...

Minneapolis (WCCO) Two Northwest Airlines planes collided Tuesday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. According to initial reports, a DC-9 landed safely but lost control when taxiing. Its wing hit the cabin of a Northwest Airlines Airbus. Several emergency crews have been dispatch to the airport. Stay tuned to WCCO.COM and WCCO-TV at 10 for more information.

ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) - Two Northwest Airlines pilots said laser lights were shone into their cockpits as they were about to land their planes at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, authorities said. A flight from Orlando, Fla., landed safely at 7:20 p.m. EST Thursday, followed at 8 p.m. by a flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica, FBI Special Agent Terry Booth told The Detroit News. The pilots told air traffic controllers that green laser light came from an area along Interstate 94 just east of the airport. Airport security reported the incidents to the Transportation Security Administration, which in turn notified the FBI....

MINNEAPOLIS - Each day, a little piece of aviation history takes off in Columbus, Ohio. And in Buffalo, N.Y., and dozens of other cities where Northwest flies DC-9s that average 34 years old. Some of them first flew when Lyndon Johnson was president. Northwest's DC-9s tie it for the oldest fleet among the world's 60 largest airlines, even as Northwest adds new planes.