Northwest Airlines (NASDAQ: NWAC) announced today that it will close its Atlanta aircraft maintenance and engine facility, and its reservations center in Long Beach, Calif.

Currently, Northwest performs the majority of its DC-9 maintenance at Atlanta. The facility also houses engine maintenance and repair facilities for the airline’s DC-9 and 727-200 fleets.

Most of the 1,450 employees at the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport maintenance and engine facility will be eligible for transfer to other Northwest Airlines facilities.

Long Beach is one of seven reservations call centers the airline operates in the United States. Other reservations centers are located at Baltimore, Chisholm, Minn., Detroit, Minneapolis, Seattle and Tampa, Fla.

The approximately 250 Long Beach reservationists also will be eligible to transfer to the airline’s other reservations facilities.

In addition, Northwest will close city ticket offices at New York/Manhattan (6th Avenue), Bloomington, Minnesota’s Mall of America, and San Jose, Calif.

As the result of these actions, approximately 100 management positions will be eliminated in Atlanta and Long Beach.

Richard Anderson, chief executive officer, said, “It is very difficult to close the Atlanta and Long Beach facilities and ask our employees in those locations to relocate. However, it is another necessary step to ensure that our operation is as efficient as possible and that the future of Northwest Airlines is secure.”

DC-9 maintenance and engine activity currently completed at Atlanta will be transferred to the Northwest facility at Minneapolis during the next three months. Northwest will be able to perform the same level of airframe and engine maintenance using two facilities—Duluth and Minneapolis, Minnesota—rather than three.

The Long Beach reservations center will close in December of this year. Northwest’s six other reservations call centers will handle calls previously routed to Southern California.

Northwest Airlines is the world`s fourth largest airline with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam and more than 1,700 daily departures. With its travel partners, Northwest serves more than 750 cities in 120 countries on six continents.

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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