Northwest Airlines is to reduce the number of seats for sale in the fourth quarter and cut its work force as it struggles with sky-high fuel costs.
Northwest, which has agreed to be acquired by Delta Air Lines, is the latest of the major US carriers to announce cutbacks as they grapple with unprecedented oil prices that have doubled in the past year.
Northwest said it would cut mainline capacity in the fourth quarter by 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent. This includes reductions previously announced in April.
"In response to these extraordinary fuel costs, we are taking prudent actions to reduce our capacity and right-size the airline," Northwest Chief Executive Doug Steenland said in a statement. This will allow us to better match our capacity to customer demand as airfares, by necessity, must increase."
The airline said it has not yet finalized the impact of the cuts on employees and that it would look first to voluntary programs to reach the resulting head-count reductions.
Northwest said it would remove 14 Boeing 757s and Airbus narrowbody aircraft from its fleet, while its DC-9 fleet would be reduced to 61 by the end of the year, down from 94 at the start of 2008.
Northwest said it continues to take action to improve revenue with added fuel surcharges, fare and fee increases but did not elaborate.
"If fuel continues to be challenging, we clearly have the wherewithal to take additional action," Steenland said at the Merrill Lynch Global Transportation conference.
Steenland noted that American Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways each have announced plans to be begin charging passengers to check a single bag. That move has drawn the ire of air passengers, but experts predict other airlines will match it.
Steenland said Northwest has not decided whether to add a similar fee.
After Northwest and Delta made public their merger proposal in April, industry experts predicted more mergers would follow. But the most likely candidates, United Airlines and US Airways, called off their talks last month without a deal.
The industry focus now appears to be on various strategic alliances and large-scale capacity cuts.
Last week, US Airways said it would reduce its work force by 1,700, cut more capacity than planned and charge new fees.
Continental Airlines said last week it would cut flights from its hubs to more than 40 domestic and international destinations as of September 3.
And United Airlines has announced plans to slash jobs and flights, following a similar move by American Airlines.
