Northwest Airlines today urged customers traveling to, from or connecting through its Detroit hub, as well as select cities in the upper Midwest and Northeast, to check the status of their flights before departing for the airport due to the impact of a power outage affecting some U.S. and Canadian airports.
The major power outage in several cities is forcing the delay, diversion or cancellation of some flights operated by Northwest, Northwest Airlink, KLM and other airlines at the affected cities. Affected cities, at this time, include: Cleveland, Detroit, Hartford, Conn., Lansing, Mich., New York (JFK and LaGuardia), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Rochester, N.Y., and Toronto. A number of Northwest flights in these cities are being held until adequate electrical power is available, and some flights destined for these cities are being cancelled or diverted.
Northwest is urging customers destined to fly to or through these cities to check the status of their flights through its Web site at www.nwa.com, or its automated flight information telephone line at 1-800-441-1818. Through nwa.com, customers can also take advantage of the airline’s flight status notification options, which proactively contact customers with the most current information on their flight.
Northwest is also urging customers scheduled to fly to, from or through these cities today to consider postponing their travel plans. Northwest will re-accommodate impacted customers scheduled to travel today and Friday to flights scheduled from tomorrow through and including Sunday, August 17, 2003, without any penalty or change fee, subject to availability and rules of the fare.
The airline is contacting customers whose flights have been affected and offering alternative travel arrangements.
Northwest continues to monitor the effect of the power outage on its schedule for Friday, August 15, 2003 and urges customers to confirm the status of flights. Northwest continues to operate flights to the vast majority of destinations in its network.
Northwest Airlines is the world`s fourth largest airline with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam, and approximately 1,500 daily departures. With its travel partners, Northwest serves nearly 750 cities in almost 120 countries on six continents. In 2002, consumers from throughout the world recognized Northwest’s efforts to make travel easier. A 2002 J.D. Power and Associates study ranked airports at Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul, home to Northwest’s two largest hubs, tied for second place among large domestic airports in overall customer satisfaction. Readers of TTG Asia and TTG China named Northwest “Best North American airline.”
For more information pertaining to Northwest, media inquiries can be directed to Northwest Media Relations at (612) 726-2331 or to Northwest’s Web site at www.nwa.com.

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