Northwest Airlines Corp's chief executive said in a letter to employees on Friday that a spike in pilot absenteeism led to a rise in flight cancellations, which he expects to last through the weekend.
The No 5 US airline said it expects to complete 93 percent of its flights on Friday. Major US airlines generally complete 98 percent or more of scheduled flights. "We saw a significant spike in certain narrowbody pilot absenteeism this morning which forced us to cancel flights," Northwest CEO Doug Steenland told employees on Friday.
Northwest uses narrowbody planes largely for domestic flights. "We are operating under the assumption that we will see increases in cancellations on Saturday and Sunday as well," Steenland said.
Northwest emerged from a 20-month bankruptcy protection in May and has trimmed its flight schedule in a bid to free up pilots, who in the past have blamed nonweather-related cancellations on insufficient staffing. Major airlines and their regional affiliates have struggled with delays this year due to crowded skies, full planes and little if any reserve in carrier fleets.
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