Northwest Airlines To Acquire 75 New Canadair Regional Jets

Northwest Airlines (NASDAQ: NWAC) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Bombardier Aerospace to acquire 75 forty-four seat Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ). Deliveries are expected to begin in mid-2002 and continue through 2005.

Northwest has also secured options to purchase 25 more CRJ aircraft beginning in 2006. In addition, Northwest received certain other option rights for the purchase of an additional 150 CRJ aircraft.

The agreement provides Northwest with the ability to substitute 50-seat CRJs for the 44-seat aircraft ordered today. This order is in addition to a current agreement with Bombardier to acquire 54 fifty-seat CRJs, 20 of which have been delivered to date.

"The CRJ has been very well received by our customers," said Tim Griffin, Northwest executive vice president marketing and distribution. "This purchase further extends our ability to serve new markets, enhance service in existing areas and provide our regional passengers with fast, comfortable service.”

“The operating economics of these aircraft are favorable for the route structure we operate,” said Mickey Foret, Northwest executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We have a flexible delivery schedule, which allows us to meet changes in economic conditions.”

“Both Bombardier and Embraer competed vigorously for this order and both provided Northwest with very favorable offers,” said Greg May, Northwest vice president of aircraft transactions. “In the end, the Bombardier offer provided better overall value to the company,” said May.

“Bombardier has arranged for lease financing to be provided for each of the aircraft on favorable terms,” said Dan Matthews, Northwest senior vice president and treasurer. “Northwest plans on subleasing the aircraft to one or more regional airline carriers which have yet to be identified,” Matthews continued.

With annual revenues in excess of $11 billion and approximately 55,000 employees worldwide, Northwest Airlines is the world’s fourth largest airline, with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam and more than 2,700 daily departures. With its travel partners, Northwest serves more than 785 cities in 120 countries on six continents. Based on statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Northwest was the most on-time U.S. airline among the seven largest network carriers for the period 1990-2000.