Travelers Face Flight Cuts And Delays; Bankruptcy Filings by Northwest, Delta Will Most Affect Fliers Going Through Secondary Hubs

• Published in: The Wall Street journal. Eastern edition
• Main Author: Corey Dade, Avery Johnson and Melanie Trottman
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y Dow Jones & Company Inc 15.09.2005
• Edition: Eastern edition
• Subjects: Air fares; Airlines; Airports; Alliances; Bankruptcy; Bankruptcy reorganization; Frequent flier programs; Quality of service
• ISSN: 0099-9660

Delta's and Northwest's filings mark the first time four of the six old-line major carriers -- joining UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. -- have operated under bankruptcy protection simultaneously. Now, nearly half the seats flown by the U.S.'s 10 largest carriers are in Chapter 11. Karan Goel, a 21-year-old chief executive of a start-up in Chicago, said he has about 33,000 Delta Air Lines miles and plans to use them all quickly. "I'm going to use the miles for a wedding in Mexico in November," he said. "I was planning to pay for the trip, but I've decided to get rid of the miles now," he said. Fortunately, many other airlines can get travelers to the same destinations as can Delta and Northwest, albeit sometimes with different stops along the way. Continental serves many of the East Coast cities that Delta serves. American and US Airways also have many flights on the Northeastern routes that the Delta Shuttle flies. Northwest and United share similar domestic routes, and have both been pushing aggressively into Asia. American serves many of the midwestern cities that Northwest flies into.