Northwest and other bankrupted airlines?

[maccalovah]

I am trying to find a decent price for our trip in May- the cheapest I have found so far is on Northwest (still waiting on SWA to release May). Would any of you make a reservation on an airline that is in bankruptcy? I heard it can be a little risky, and often are subject to long layovers with little/no notice. My BIL recently flew Northwest to Orlando and ended up having a 7 hour layover in Atlanta.

 

[CarolA]

Long layovers are not a result of bankruptcy.
Not sure what happened with your brother, but if he booked the ticket that way I would say it was "cheap ticket" syndrome. Otherwise it was probably weather and or mechanical, which happen to all airlines.

If you are not flying bankrupt airlines (or those close to it) your options decrease..... SW is in pretty good financial shape, lots of the old majors are shaky, but I expect them all to keep flying.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I have reservations on United and Delta through next April for business and leisure trips -- both airlines are in bankruptcy and still flying. I have no problems making reservations on either one.

 

[dudspizza]

I agree. I have reservations for next May on Delta and I am not overly concerned. I do keep an eye on my flights, but I would do that anyways.

Personally, I would book whichever airline that I felt comfortable with. I have no concerns about NWA or Delta. They will keep flying.

Duds

 

[maccalovah]

Long layovers are not a result of bankruptcy.
Not sure what happened with your brother, but if he booked the ticket that way I would say it was "cheap ticket" syndrome. Otherwise it was probably weather and or mechanical, which happen to all airlines.

If you are not flying bankrupt airlines (or those close to it) your options decrease..... SW is in pretty good financial shape, lots of the old majors are shaky, but I expect them all to keep flying.

BIL didn't book any stops on his flight- not really sure what happened there, but made me think twice. Especially after reading this article: http://www.hasbrouck.org/articles/bankruptcy.html

I am probably just being overly paranoid. Thanks for all the responses. Will probably go with NW, unless SWA ends up being less expensive....

 

[kjs1976]

We have always flown NWA to Orlando from MPLS in the past. We have never had a problem. We would like to keep flying NWA because MPLS is a hub and we've always gotten good deals. We checked into the whole bankruptcy thing too since we would like to schedule a flight to MCO this summer through them. What we were told was that they will likely cancel flights to smaller cities or less traveled legs, but keep the main ones. Should your leg be canceled after you book, you'd be refunded or switched since this would be normal policy.

 

[maccalovah]

We have always flown NWA to Orlando from MPLS in the past. We have never had a problem. We would like to keep flying NWA because MPLS is a hub and we've always gotten good deals. We checked into the whole bankruptcy thing too since we would like to schedule a flight to MCO this summer through them. What we were told was that they will likely cancel flights to smaller cities or less traveled legs, but keep the main ones. Should your leg be canceled after you book, you'd be refunded or switched since this would be normal policy.

We would be flying out of Detroit, which I believe is another NWA hub- so I probably shouldn't be worried...