Summer Updates

Hello Everyone and thanks for stopping in. Its already been a busy and long summer and its just late June.

The big issue to date has been delays and cancellations driven by flight crew availability. There are several reasons why we are unable to crew our schedule, but the important thing is what are we doing about it. We realize that "day of" cancellations and rebooking at the airports is painful for customers and employees, so this past Friday we have started pre cancelling flights. The plan is to continue this pre cancel process until we feel confident we have enough flight crew time available to fly the schedule. Cancelling a flight is never easy, but pre cancelling takes a lot of stress out of the process. Load factors are at record highs so doing the cancellation a few days out at least gives our customers better options vs. doing it day of departure at the airport.

Some good news on the performance front, our first quarter goals in On time and DOT luggage will generate a .75% pay out. On-time was at Threshold and DOT luggage was at target, congrats to all.

On the staffing side, we continue to hire part time ESEs each week and several classes are in the process. Although winter seems like a long way off, we will soon be working on the plan that starts the hiring and upgrade process. Our plan is to keep hiring throughout the summer and start developing the plan for full time upgrades. We have also continued to add CSAs to the mix as the summer loads and flight schedules continue to be strong for the rest of the summer.

June 30th is a big day for the ESEs as our employees take over all luggage movement for both Northwest and Airlink. A lot of work still needs to be done to be ready, but a congrats goes out to the IAM and your local shop committee for working with us on this important changes. Jobs and better service, sound like a Win - Win. Good luck,

Thats it for today, all the best.

Mark C. Gurney
Vice President - DTW WorldGateway

The Employee Involvement Team

There seems to be a lot of buzz and spin going on about the intent of EIT (Employee Involvement Teams). I will not address the spin or the local politics, but I would like to clarify what an EIT is.

EIT is - A group of employees working "non contractual" issues/opportunities that will make our DTW WorldGateway a better place to work. A group of employees working on operational processes that will make our operation better for customers and fellow employees. I will use the term "group" because I think there is some confusion on who and how the process works. There is no formal process of who can or can't get involved. Currently, we have fellow employees, from each group, working on employee communications, employee recognition, health & wellness and a social committee involvement group. We find these are important concerns of fellow employees and we think all opinions and views should be reviewed and discussed. I think good progress has been made and this is a much better process then having the management team driving the decisions for all employee issues outside the contract.

Here is a current example of EIT in action;
NWA has allocated funding in 2007 to clean up Ready Rooms and add some employee friendly items to the facilities. Instead of your Director or myself deciding what will be in the Ready Rooms, your fellow employees assisted us in voicing what employees really wanted. The important part was getting people "involved" in the process and getting a good cross section of opinions.

Again, the important part is "getting people involved" in non-contractual issues versus having your leadership team making all of these types of decisions for you. We truly want to get people involved and make this a better place to work.

I hope this helps clarify some of the confusion regarding the EIT groups. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments on these non-contractual issues.

Thank you,

Mark

Focusing on Customer Service at the WorldGateway

Now that we have moved out of bankruptcy, we can place our full focus on improving the travel experience for our customers. Our goal is to make the DTW WorldGateway the hub of choice for domestic and international travel. We have a great terminal and great people, so it's a matter of working together on improving process and building a competitive flight schedule. The flight schedule continues to grow in DTW. Last night we kicked off new service to DUS and next week we add BRU. Our summer schedule brings our hub to 521 total departures, with 15 international TATL and TPAC flights. This is our largest summer international flight schedule to date.

We know that having a competitive and a superior flight schedule is only part of it. Now our efforts focus around the airport customer experience. Of course, the first question is always "what about staffing"? Well, we are quickly moving down that path. To handle the summer increase and added Airlink work, Joe Conlon has worked with a group of ESE's on a bid that does include added Leads and ESEs staffing levels. Yes, not everyone is excited, but we are adding Full Time Leads and ESEs. Beyond the bid that is posted, our Human Resource team is busy hiring part time ESE's and as we grow the part time ranks are already looking at full time opportunities. Although we have just added a lot of new CSAs, Andy Zarras is working on the details to increase CSA's over current levels. We want to be ready for the summer challenges and adding staffing in all work groups is a big part of the solution.

A great place, great people and great processes is the key. We are also doing a lot of work on process improvement. Simply put, the customer wants their flight out on time with luggage. They also want the connecting process as hassle free as possible.
Below are some of the items to keep at the top of our focus:

1. Reducing the amount of time customers wait in the claim area for their luggage. Time after time our Michigan customers tell us this is the big home run.

2. The follow up process once a customers bag does not arrive in DTW. Right now its wait around the luggage carousel and then head over to LSO.

3. Service Recovery, we have staffed up Gates 41 and 43, but need to relook at how we handle the customer.

4. FIS, we need to reduce the process time and some of the confusion. Also, we have an opportunity to improve in luggage wait times and announcements in this area.

I will keep you updated on our progress, but its safe to say that our main focus this summer is improving the experince at the DTW WorldGateway for our customers and employees.
Thank you,
Mark

Saying Thank You

On May 31st we will be having a special day to thank our employees! Food will be served to all NWA employees throughout the system. Here in DTW, we will be setting up several locations where management will be serving and thanking you for your commitment and support during a very difficult time in our history. There is no question, without your support we would not be able to make this airline a great company with a strong future. We will be sending out more information soon, but the plan is being set up for 3 locations in the terminal, one in cargo and one at the hangar facility. Chicken, ribs and a veggie meal will be served with the traditional picnic style salads. I look forward to serving you and saying "thank you".

Speaking about saying thanks, I would like to thank all of you who have participated in the Habitat for Humanity build. I was over at the house this week and those who worked there before me have done a great job building the structure. Several of your fellow employees and I hung the doors and windows. It was a lot of work and I have great respect for construction workers. We have two days left to participate with the Habitat House, this Saturday and next Wednesday. It is a great experience!

Well, we have a very busy weekend ahead of us with full flights. The Employee Support Center is working on staffing up to ensure the staffing levels are successful. Good luck and have a great and safe Memorial Day weekend.

P.S. Watch your mailbox for a letter from Doug Steenland that everyone is receiving this week. It will contain information about "A New Day at NWA Appreciation Travel Program."

Thank you,
Mark Gurney
Vice President
DTW WorldGateway

Luggage Movement

Hi everyone,

I am sure by now you have heard that in mid June our ESE's in DTW and MSP will be taking over all luggage movement. This will include all transfer and local delivery of luggage. In DTW, we will be adding aprox 115 ESE postions, which includes additional full time Lead positions.

There is a lot of work that still needs to be completed on finalizing the process and details. Mike Giuntini, Director of Luggage, will be heading up a working team of Leads and ESEs to build the process and shift bids. Your IAM leaders will also be working with Mike and team to ensure we have the best process to allow us to be productive.

Much more information will follow, but congratulations to the IAM group and I look forward to this being a very successful transition.

Thank you,
Mark

Spring Brings Operational Improvement

Spring is in the air and we are finally starting to see improvement in our core operating numbers. April's arrivals were 47% within 0 and our on time departure rate was 51.8%. Station on time was 75% which was the best year to date. So far this month, our departures on time is 60%, which is the best by far year to date. So goes on time, so goes luggage and the first 3 months were not our best due to weather and a low arrival rate. Looks like April will close out around 8.8 which is the best luggage month we have seen in awhile.

When an airline hub runs on time, customers get the benefit of having the needed time to make their connections with their luggage. We are starting to see the misconnection rates drop, which is real good for our customers and those of you who work luggage reroute and our customer service recovery area. Our hub is very dependant on connecting customers, so being reliable is a must for our success. On time - with luggage and good customer service will continue to make our DTW WorldGateway the hub of choice.

Thanks for working hard and keeping the faith through a difficult winter, you did a great job dealing with some tough operating days.

On a side note, I have been getting several emails and comments about our Employee Support Center. Andy Zarras, Joe Conlon and Hussein Berry are meeting with your Shop Committees on the issues. We have a list, based on your feedback, and will work the list until all issues are resolved. We truly want a team and a process that is user friendly and I know everyone is committed to this goal.

Thank you,
Mark

International Travel

Sorry for being a little late on my Blog. I have been doing some traveling to Europe and Asia to meet with our KLM and Asia operating teams. There is a lot of work going on to get ready for our increased flying to DUS, FRA and BRU, as well as early planning for our 787. I can tell you, everyone on either side of the oceans are working hard and are excited that NWA and the DTW WorldGateway will be growing internationally.

Although the 787 is still a year away, we are working the plan already and working on getting additional landing rights to Asia. No question, China is a growing economy and an important part of our future in Asia. Our new TATL 757s are in the process of making their proving runs and we should be seeing the first remodeled interior shortly. We have been hiring CSAIs to support the added services and our summer ramp bid will have additional positions to ensure we give our customers the best ground service out of the U.S.

We have a great place and great people, so with our remodeled 757s and new 787s the DTW WorldGateway should be the choice international hub. Our DTW Sales and Service teams have been busy meeting with Detroit's top corporate customers to ensure they know we have a great international schedule and product.

No surprise what our top customers want: a fair price, flights on time with luggage and a friendly smile at the airport. Two clear comments from our WBC customers - they want their checked luggage to come to the FIS claim belts first, quickly and if needed, professional service recovery. These are basic customer expectations that we want to consistently meet. Gil Schuckman, Director of International Operations, will be working on both issues with your support.

Well, that's it for now, have a good week.
Mark