Northwest Airlines First In The Industry to Compensate for Recovered Luggage

Northwest Airlines on June 15 will implement a new luggage service recovery program to affirm the Company’s commitment to superior customer service.

Under the new program, Northwest is the first airline to provide customers with a new luggage service recovery packet that will be provided when a lost bag is returned to the customer.

The packet contains a dollars-off voucher for future travel of at least $25, along with a comment card and a letter of apology. The discounts will be based on a sliding scale depending on the on price of the passenger’s ticket for future travel.

“We have great confidence in our luggage service, but when things go wrong we want to get things right for our customers,” said Dirk McMahon, Northwest senior vice president ground operations “At Northwest Airlines we take customer service recovery very seriously.”

Northwest Airlines is the world's fourth largest airline offering more than 1,700 daily departures with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam. With its travel partners, Northwest serves more than 500 cities in nearly 100 countries on six continents. Northwest and partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines received Air Transport World's prestigious "Airline of the Year" award in 1997. Based on statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Northwest is the most on-time U.S. airline of the decade among the seven largest network carriers and is the 2000 recipient of Air Transport World Airline Technology Management Award. Northwest's WorldPerks frequent flyer program is the highest rated U.S.-based program reviewed by InsideFlyer magazine, the leading authority on airline free travel programs, and in 1999 was named the most preferred frequent flyer program by the readers of Time in Asia. WorldPerks received the special "Industry Impact Award" during InsideFlyer's 12th Annual Freddie Awards.