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

Thinking Safety

Recent events involving a non NWA employee continue to remind us how important it is to work safe and follow safety rules. Safety is and always has to be the most important part of our day to day work environment and we all must constantly be " Thinking Safety". No one comes to work with the thought of getting hurt or hurting someone else, but the facts are that unsafe work habits can and do result in injuries or worse. Driving habits are a very real concern and I often hear "what is the County or Company doing about it". There is no question we all have to be more proactive in ensuring that everyone is working and driving safely. Ensuring we have a safe working environment is a WE issue and not a THEM issue.

Wayne County, our company, the other companies and the unions are all in agreement that safety is job one and education, training, involvement and enforcement is an important part of the solution. I have asked Joe Conlon and our Safety manager to head up an EIT to look at other actions we can all take to ensure we have a safe work environment. The list of safety rules is long, but a great place to start is:

1. Drive safe - which means slow down and stop at posted stop signs or when visibility is limited.
2. Always be alert to your surroundings and watch out for the other guy.

3. NO cell phones, MP3 players, IPODs etc, should be in use when working on the ramp or when driving.

Again, a short list and nothing that we don't already know, but each day someone is seen not following the basic rules of safety.

Lets all work and drive safe, and if you see someone not doing so, please remind them we all want a safe place to work.

Thank you,

Mark

Follow Up to the Town Hall Meetings

Hello everyone, its Spring Time (or it was) and there is a lot going on. First, we are gearing up for a very busy week. Spring break is in full swing and we are seeing extremely high load factors on all flights to warm weather destinations. Local customers will be packing into our facilities with lots of luggage to get away from the long cold winter. Its great to see our friends and neighbors flying, so lets show them how good we are at NWA and thank them for flying NWA and not the other airlines.

Second, there are several follows ups from our Town Hall meetings that we are working on and I have asked your department Directors to keep you well informed on our progress. A couple to note,

Employee Support Center recently held info meetings to give everyone an overview of our goal to have one stop shopping for all of your support and administrative needs. I know there was some confusion on a couple of issues from the CSA side and I know Hussein, Andy and your IAM Shop Committee have worked them out. Its a big change but I think most people agree, its time to transition from "ADMAN" to the new "Employee Support Center".

Joe Conlon has asked Ray Hernandez to head up the employee team that will review our ground equipment process, repairs and allocation. They will keep you updated on the DTWToday website.

Customer Services is hiring part time employees for the increase in flight schedule and volumes. New CSA's are going into training classes and will be ready to support you by mid/late May. Ramp Services is finalizing their plan that will allow us to keep the additional Full Timers we had for deicing. Your IAM Shop Committee is working with Joe and Hussein and have brought several new suggestions and solutions which are currently being reviewed.

We have an EIT team starting up the Ready Room and employee work area refurbish process. The EIT will be evaluating your work environments and bringing forward recommendations to improve your work areas and ready rooms.


Also I want to thank you all for our recent #2 ranking in DOT luggage. Although we have had our challenges in on-time, you have done a better job than the other airlines keeping the customers and their luggage together. Good for NWA, good for our customers and good for our Performance Share program.

Until next week, thanks...
Mark