According to the ATA, NWA has the newest international fleet of aircraft of any US airline. Additionally, according to Jim Jubak, MSN financial editor, NWA recently posted the highest 3Q profit margin of any legacy operator within the past 10 years and is forecasted to remain profitable with fuel prices well in excess of 100.00 per barrel.
As the US launch customer for the 787, this long range family of aircraft is "right-sized" for those ultra long range flights to the smaller cities (20 mil, about 10 times the size of Orange County, CA) within China that are not under frequency regulation that the top four cities fall under. The majority of the world's growth stems from Asia and NWA has always had a strong posture within this region. Based on these facts alone, I foresee a strong future for NWA; more so than the double breasted uniformed folks vying for survival on the highly competitive European routes. After all, DAL is notorious for it’s withdrawal from the AA and SWA dominated DFW/DAL hubs. Furthermore, Delta’s year-over-year transfer of it’s domestic flying to Skywest would lead me to believe that even the 25 year old mad dogs may see their end in the near future without any consolidation to trigger it. At NWA, the regional affiliates and their aircraft orders have already pushed to the limits of scope with no further expansion possible, assuming the 50 seat RJ goes the way of the V-8 in a daily driver.
Before one group of pilots should so arrogantly bash the heritage and accomplishments of another, perhaps a bit more research is needed. In my humble opinion, the culture among the pilots at NWA is great and HR is actively pushing for a SWA type culture, contrast this to other stiff upper-lip style groups notorious for arrogance. As a former military veteran who spent one year in Iraq, it saddens me to think of my lost brothers over there, one of which was my unit SP, another being my class leader from flight school and how any one of them would have given slightly less than what they did to be with a legacy carrier. I contrast these real men to the p-u-d knockers who bicker over not being able to retire within the top 100 of a company that employs what, 6000 pilots? Isn’t 12 year pay the highest anyway? How proud your family must be, how women must view them as arrogant geeks. I would love to have some face time with these kids and shed some reality their way.