Originally Posted by
Ftrooppilot
Got a blender. Lets throw in the following companies:
NWA Corp.
NWA Holding Corp.
NWA Inc.
NWA Fuel Services Inc. (NFS)
MLT Inc. (Vacation Wholesale)
Northwest Aerospace Training Corp. (NATCO)
Mesaba
Compass
Champion Air (40% Owned)
Midwest Airlines (47% Owned - at arm's length)
Turn on the switch and what kind of mix will be there for SHAREHOLDERS profits and CEO bonus justification in three to five years ?
This is a fantasy prediction:
NWA will have three aviation operations: NWA, Midwest Airlines and Champion Air. The names Mesaba and Compass will disappear. Look at it from a marketing standpoint. Take a passenger airline recognition survey; few of them know Mesaba or Compass. Everybody knows Midwest and their cookies. They are the number one rated US airline. Brand recognition is important.
NWA will operate their current fleet with additions. Midwest (combined Mesaba and Compass) and wholely owned by NWA Inc. will operate CRJ900s, 200s and E175s with Q400s replacing SAABs (also 200s eventually). There will also be a gradual creep up to 100 plus seat regional aircraft. Midwest 11 (13 ?) MD80s will go to Champion Charter operations and replace their sixteen aging fuel inefficient 727s. Midwest twenty five 717s will be sold.
Honestly - I have not been drinking.
I wonder if Neal Cohen reads this thread ?
That does not sound too far from what is about to happen.
Compass is the least known. It is not even CASS approved by the FAA last time I checked. Mesaba is not well known either, although when I make passenger announcements, I mention Mesaba operating NWA airlink flight. I've heard from several senior CAs who also agree with you that NWA probably do not want several different names confusing the heck out of passengers. Name recognition is the word in marketing, and certainly NWA wants to take the credit when airlink such as Mesaba when it is run well. So, I think I agree with you in that it seems very likely that names Mesaba and Compass will be dropped at some point in favor of just NWA or possibly NWAirlink. I also agree CRJ200s will at some point be phased out along with SAABs because 200s are not as economical to run as CRJ900s or EMB175s.