NWAC Northwest Airlines (MM)

NWA Cargo President Jim Friedel Assumes Additional Responsibility as Senior Vice President-Pacific EAGAN, Minn., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northwest Airlines (NASDAQ:NWAC) today announced two leadership appointments in its international and alliance organizations, naming Nathaniel Pieper to the position of vice president-alliances and Jim Friedel, president of NWA Cargo, to the additional role of senior vice president-Pacific, effective immediately. In his new role, Pieper will be responsible for Northwest's global alliance strategy and partnerships, including the airline's highly successful joint venture with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest's membership in the SkyTeam alliance. Pieper replaces Gary Fishman, who has retired from Northwest. "Nat has held a number of key positions with Northwest in financial and business planning," said Phil Haan, executive vice president of international, alliances and information technology and chairman of NWA Cargo. "Nat's leadership skills and wide range of experience at Northwest will help us continue to develop our strategic global alliances to better serve our customers." Pieper joined Northwest in 1997. Since 2003, he has served as managing director of financial planning and analysis, with responsibilities for labor analysis, long-range financial planning and fleet planning, including Northwest's recent Boeing 787 order. Previously, he held positions in and had responsibility for capital planning and strategic planning. Pieper earned an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in finance, strategy and transportation management and a BA in history from Duke University. Thanking Fishman for his 12 years of service with Northwest, Haan said, "During his career at Northwest Airlines, Gary Fishman made important contributions to the company's success in the areas of facilitating our entry into SkyTeam, providing our customers with a faster and more efficient airport experience and providing financial leadership of our technical operations division. We wish him well in his new endeavors." FRIEDEL NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT - PACIFIC AND PRESIDENT, NWA CARGO Jim Friedel will take on the newly-created role of senior vice president- Pacific in addition to retaining his responsibilities as president of NWA Cargo. Friedel will have profit and loss (P&L) responsibility for Northwest's Asia/Pacific operations. "Jim's vast cargo experience in the Asia/Pacific region will be a strong asset as he leads our efforts to leverage the combination of Northwest's major passenger and cargo presence in this key region," said Haan. "The Asia/Pacific region continues to be the most rapidly developing part of the global economy," said Friedel. "I look forward to working with the passenger and cargo teams to ensure that Northwest continues to be a strong and nimble competitor." A 14-year veteran of Northwest, Friedel is president of NWA Cargo, one of the largest players in the trans-Pacific air freight market. Before joining NWA Cargo in 1996, Friedel had responsibility for the operation of Northwest's passenger reservations offices in the U.S. He also served as director of analysis in corporate finance. Before joining Northwest in 1991, Friedel was an associate with Mercer Management Consulting, where he worked with logistics clients such as railroads, distribution centers, overnight express couriers, and truckers. He holds an economics degree from Princeton University and is a native of New York. NWA Cargo, the cargo subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, is the largest cargo carrier among U.S. combination passenger and cargo airlines. NWA Cargo's fleet of 14 dedicated Boeing 747 freighter aircraft fly from key cities throughout the United States and Asia and connect at the carrier's cargo hub in Anchorage, Alaska, facilitating the quick transfer of cargo between large cities on both sides of the Pacific. NWA Cargo also transports freight aboard the passenger fleet of Northwest Airlines to more than 250 cities worldwide. Additional information is available at: http://www.cargo.nwa.com/ . Northwest Airlines is the world's fourth largest airline 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 900 cities in excess of 160 countries on six continents. DATASOURCE: Northwest Airlines CONTACT: Northwest Media Relations, +1-612-726-2331 Web site: http://www.nwa.com/

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