Northwest Closes in on 100 Percent Interline E-Ticketing

Business Wire, Sept 7, 2007

Airline Also Closes In On 100(th) Interline E-ticket Agreement

EAGAN, Minn. -- Northwest Airlines (NYSE:NWA) is closing on a landmark 100th interline electronic ticket agreement, and could be the first airline in the world to implement its 100th e-ticket accord as early as next week. E-ticketing facilitates the booking and modifying of tickets online along with self service check-in.

In 2004, the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) airline members resolved to eliminate all paper tickets. Since then, the amount of e-ticketing has risen to 84 percent of all transactions processed by IATA's billing and settlement system from the 16 percent recorded in June 2004. Northwest to date has implemented e-ticket programs for 99.9 percent of all interline ticketing within the United States, and 99.2 percent of ticketing with its international partners. This process undertaken by Northwest and its SkyTeam partners significantly contributes to the elimination of unnecessary paper waste within the travel industry.

"This is a huge achievement, and we're proud to be at the forefront of this global movement to simplify the air travel experience," said Al Lenza, Northwest Airlines' vice president distribution and e-commerce. "We've been working for years to enhance our customers' experience through our innovative e-commerce and self-service solutions; attaining our 100th e-ticket interline agreement underscores our commitment to further improvements in this area."

The airline currently has 95 interline e-ticket agreements in place and is a major supporter of a program championed by IATA to end all paper ticketing by June 2008. IATA's billing and settlement system currently processes about 400 million ticket transactions annually. Northwest's 95 agreements include all nine of the airline's SkyTeam partners as well the three associate members that joined the global alliance earlier this week.

Northwest Airlines is one of the world's largest airlines with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam, and approximately 1,400 daily departures. Northwest is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that offers customers one of the world's most extensive global networks. Northwest and its travel partners serve more than 1,000 cities in excess of 160 countries on six continents.