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Web posted
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Breaking News
Northwest Airlines Cargo eyes expansion in Anchorage
By Rob Stapleton
Alaska Journal of Commerce
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A Northwest Airlines Cargo jet takes off from Ted Stevens Anchorage
International Airport in this file photo. Northwest officials say a
maintenance facility at the Anchorage airport may be in the works in the
near future.
PHOTO/Rob Stapleton/AJOC | |
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Despite filing a bankruptcy plan on Jan. 15, Northwest Airlines has announced a plan to expand its all-cargo operation at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport later this year.
"Management will make a decision by mid-year 2007 on when it will open up a maintenance base here at the Anchorage airport," said Tina Hromada with NWA Cargo.
"If we have an aircraft on the ground that needed an aircraft part, in the past, we had to wait for one of our passenger flights from Minneapolis to bring the part to Anchorage. With a maintenance base here we could have a part hot and ready to go in 30 minutes."
Hromada indicated that due to expanding flights into Asia and China, the Anchorage hub has become a valuable asset to its cargo operations.
"We have a huge perishable market that we are focusing on, with spare parts on hand we can get the freighters up and running in a timely manner," Hromada said.
The plan for expansion was announced Jan. 30 in Anchorage, at the monthly meeting of the Anchorage Air Cargo Association.
No decision was announced about where NWA Cargo will operate in the future at the Anchorage airport, but for now, it operates on the northwest side of that facility where it cross-loads cargo with Korean Airlines Cargo aircraft.
Cross-loading refers to the ability to load and unload cargo between international and domestic carriers. This process of transferring cargo between carriers is only allowed at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport due to a law created by the airport's namesake.
"We are the only ones that do what we do, and so we have decided to outsource some of our other services and concentrate on the cross-loading," Hromada said.
The NWA hub in Anchorage has 110 employees. Northwest Airlines is the world's fifth largest airline and earned a total of $950 million in 2006.
Rob Stapleton can be reached at rob.stapleton@alaskajournal.com.
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