Northwest Airlines today
named Gary Fishman its senior vice president-alliances, replacing Doug
Birdsall, who is retiring effective July 31. “Northwest Airlines appreciates Doug Birdsall’s 12 years of distinguished
service,” said Doug Steenland, president. “He was instrumental in helping
to establish and manage the industry-leading alliance between Northwest
and KLM, the marketing agreements with Delta and Continental, and other
key alliance agreements with our partners around the world. We thank Doug
for his contributions to our company and wish him all the best in
retirement.”

In his new role, Fishman will be responsible for Northwest’s global
alliance strategy and partnerships. His new assignment is effective on
June 1.

“Gary has held a number of key positions with Northwest in operations and
finance, and his experience and skills have prepared him well for this new
challenge,” Steenland said. “I look forward to working with Gary and our
senior management team as Northwest continues to grow its global alliances
to better serve our customers.”

Fishman’s current customer service responsibilities will be assumed by
Glenn Woythaler, currently vice president-Atlantic region.

“Glenn’s experience in international finance, operations and sales and
marketing is critical as Northwest continues it focus on providing
customers with a hassle-free and efficient travel experience,” said Robert
Isom, senior vice president-customer service. “I look forward to working
with Glenn to continue to provide our customers with the outstanding
service they deserve.”

An announcement concerning Woythaler’s responsibilities in Europe will be
made shortly.

Birdsall, who has been affiliated with Northwest since 1992, was appointed
senior vice president-alliances in April 1999. He also has served as vice
president-marketing alliances and strategic planning. Prior to Northwest,
Birdsall held positions as chairman, CEO and president of Travelmation
Corp.; senior vice president of marketing and planning at Continental
Airlines; president, CEO and director of New York Air; and
manager/director of planning systems at the former Eastern Airlines.

Prior to serving as vice president-customer service planning and security,
Fishman held key positions in technical operations and financial planning
and analysis. Fishman joined Northwest in 1993 as director-financial
analysis. Before that, he had management responsibility in market and
strategic planning at Continental Airlines and its parent company. He
began his career with Trans World Airlines, after serving as an officer in
the U.S. Navy for five years during Vietnam. Fishman is a graduate of the
U.S. Naval Academy and holds a master’s degree in business administration
from Iona College, New York.

Woythaler has been vice president-Atlantic region since 2002, responsible
for Northwest’s finance, operations and sales and marketing activities in
Europe, Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. Prior to that, he worked in
flight operations as vice president of crew and performance analysis.
Woythaler joined Northwest in 1992. He previously worked for American
Airlines for seven years in financial planning and analysis, sales
planning and sales programs. Woythaler holds a bachelor’s degree from St.
Lawrence University and a master’s degree in business administration from
the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University.
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