Northwest Airlines' pre-tax result for 2007 is third highest in company history

30 January 2008

Northwest Airlines has reported bankruptcy exit aided net income of $2.32 billion for 2007, marking a substantial turnaround from a net loss of $2.86 billion for 2006, when it was operating under Chapter 11 protection.

The carrier's 2007 pre-tax income, excluding reorganization items, was $764 million, which marks an improvement of more-than-150 per cent over the pre-tax income of $301 million for 2006.

It reported a Q4 net loss of $8 million, which is once again a massive improvement over the net loss of $267 million for the same period in 2006.

President and CEO, Doug Steenland, said that the pre-tax result was "the third highest in company history" and also that he was particularly "satisfied" with Q4 earnings, "which were essentially breakeven [in what is] historically a weak quarter for us."

In this context he also noted that most US airlines had bigger losses for the same period.

In a conference call with analysts and reporters, he declined to discuss industry speculation that NWA was in merger talks with Delta Air Lines.