Compass Airlines (North America)
Compass Airlines is a new subsidiary to Northwest Airlines to be launched during the 4th quarter of 2006 flying a single Bombardier CRJ-200 between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Washington Dulles. During the concept phase, the subsidiary was known as "NewCo".
Compass was formed due to a contract dispute between Northwest and its pilot's union. Due to the scope clause in the pilot contracts, the number of mid-sized jets operated by the airline was limited. In order to avert this problem, Northwest bought the operating certificate of defunct Independence Air on March 10, 2006, for $2 Million, in order to establish a new feeder airline. It is speculated that Compass will operate Embraer E-170s, although the Bombardier CRJ-900 is also under consideration. These aircraft are not a direct replacement for the aging DC-9s and lower the cost per available seat mile. It is expected the replacement for the DC-9 will be the EMB-190/195 series aircraft that will be operated by mainline Northwest Airlines. The max number of seats that Compass can operate is 76 seats due to the Northwest pilots contract that is to protect the jobs of many mainline pilots.
While the order and delivery of these aircraft are pending, a single CRJ-200 with as many as up to four by the end of the year will remain in service to preserve the airline's operating certificate.
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