News Releases for August 2007
August 22, 2007
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Hoeven Meets With Northwest Airline Officials On Air Service To North Dakota
BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. John Hoeven today met with senior officials of Northwest Airline, including Director of State and Local Government Affairs Jeff Davidman; Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications Ben Hirst; Vice President for Network Planning and Revenue Tom Bach; Director of Network Planning Matt Friebe; and North Dakota Aeronautics Commission Chairman Gary Ness.
Hoeven pressed the officials for improvements in service to North Dakota, including:
- Reliability of flight schedule.
- Adequacy of scheduled flights and seating capacity.
- Improved customer service.
- Competitive pricing.
- Essential air service for small communities, including Devils Lake and Jamestown.
- Scheduling gaps – long intervals between afternoon and evening flights – in Grand Forks and Minot.
Northwest emerged from bankruptcy with problems involving pilot availablity, but they have since hired more pilots. Officials told Hoeven they will replace two smaller jets in Bismarck with larger ones effective August 27, adding 98 seats to the Bismarck schedule. The company will replace two-50 seat CRJs with a 124-seat Airbus 319 and a 76-seat CRJ 900. Officials also committed to work on the scheduling gaps in Grand Forks and Minot.
However, company officials say they will confront potential delays due to runway repairs in Minneapolis until early October.
"The airline has committed to following up with us on these and other issues," Hoeven said. "Stable and reliable airline service is essential to our economic growth, and we will continue to press officials to find quick and effective solutions to improving service for North Dakota."
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