ST. PAUL, MINN.—(December 5, 2002)—Northwest Airlines (NASDAQ: NWAC) today announced a systemwide November load factor of 71.1 percent, 1.2 points above November 2001. Systemwide, Northwest flew 5.27 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 7.41 billion available seat miles (ASMs) in November 2002, resulting in a traffic increase of 11.7 percent on a 9.9 percent increase in capacity versus November 2001.

Year-over-year comparisons were impacted by the events of September 11, 2001, which resulted in a significant decline in demand for air travel and Northwest’s subsequent reduction in capacity. Compared to November 2000, Northwest’s November systemwide traffic decreased 12.5% on a 8.2% decrease in capacity, or a 3.4 point load factor decline versus November 2000.

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