Northwest plans for new regional carrier

It appears that Northwest is trying to find its way out of bankruptcy with a Compass. Northwest’s new commuter carrier, Compass Airlines, is scheduled to begin flying in June, according to a report today from ATW Media Group.

Early on, Compass will have a limited role. USA Today notes that in the beginning, only a pair of daily flights between Minneapolis and near Washington, D.C. (Dulles) are projected. However, Northwest has bigger plans for the airline, predicting that instead of the 50 seats on one plane, Compass will have about 36 planes, at least some of which would be 76-seaters.

Overall, I suppose this is good news for Northwest, in that it’s trying to re-grow its business after such hard times. It will be interesting to see if adding more capacity in the form of a commuter airline will help Northwest, or if the new jets will bring more trouble for the company.