Northwest Airlines today announced a “20 Point Plan” to minimize service disruptions and help provide the best possible customer experience during the upcoming Thanksgiving and December holidays. NWA’s Holiday Travel Reliability Program, now in effect, is the first of its kind and a leader among the major U.S. airlines.

The “20 Point Plan” was developed by Northwest’s Task Force on Holiday Travel Reliability. The plan provides new options and added services for Northwest’s customers, including advance notice of anticipated weather delays and more liberal rebooking policies for customers whose travel plans are disrupted by inclement weather, irregular operations involving air traffic delays and maintenance.

“When a service disruption occurs or the forecast calls for bad weather, our Holiday Travel Reliability Program kicks in. Whenever possible, we will notify our customers in advance and give them the flexibility to adjust their holiday travel plans,” said Doug Steenland, president and chief executive officer of Northwest Airlines. “Our goal is to err on the side of the customer – to communicate early and often and waive rebooking fees when bad weather and service disruptions are on the horizon.”

NWA “Customer Focus” Enhancements

Winter blizzards and adverse weather across the system have the potential to impact reliable operations and disrupt travel plans. When a service disruption is anticipated, or cancellations are necessary, NWA has enhanced the ability of its customers to adjust travel plans in the following ways:

1. Liberalized Exception Policy: When this policy is in effect, NWA waives all change fees associated with re-accommodating customers who have been impacted by weather delays, irregular operations, or a mechanical situation and allows rebooking options for other NWA flights.

2. Enhanced Event Notification: An Automated Messaging System proactively advises customers (by telephone or email) of a flight delay, irregular operation, or cancellation through a free service on nwa.com called “My NWA Info.” Customers are encouraged to take advantage of this service by providing the airline with email and telephone contact information.

3. Automated Flight Rebooking (AFR): NWA’s computer software systems have the ability to automatically process and rebook 150 customers in less than two minutes.

4. Frequent Airport Updates: If a flight is delayed or canceled before boarding, customer service agents will promptly post the information on the gate display monitors and make announcements at the gate every 15 minutes on the status of the delay, or in the case of the canceled flight, provide instructions to customers.

5. Rebook Hotline: NWA has a dedicated, toll-free number that customers can call from an airport telephone, or their cell phones, to obtain rebooking assistance from reservations agents. These calls take precedence over other incoming customer calls.

6. Rebook Service Centers (located in Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul hubs): These centers allow customers to print boarding passes for their new flight once they have been rebooked by the AFR system.

7. Technology options in the airport: Airport Self Service Devices give customers added convenient rebooking options.

8. Rebooking from home or the office: Customers can go online to nwa.com in the “Manage My Reservations” section to reschedule flights with ease.

“Travel over the holidays can be challenging and we know, from experience, that peak demand and unanticipated delays can stress the system and our passengers,” said Steenland. “We encourage our customers to sign up for our notification services and provide us with a telephone number or email address, so we can let them know as quickly as possible if they need to adjust their travel plans. This allows us to provide better service to the customer and give them added travel options.”

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