Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

As the dominant carrier here Northwest Airlines is in a position to dominate a rapidly expanding market. We have a beautiful new airport scheduled to open in two years. This would be the ideal time for Northwest Airlines (NWA) to expand their operations here and cement their place as the #1 carrier here when the new terminal opens.

Attn: NWA Executives

Please consider the following route additions at IND leading up to the new terminal opening in 2008.

Austin, TX (AUS)
Denver, CO (DEN)
Milwaukee, WI (MKE)
New Orleans, LA (MSY)
Pittsburgh, PA (PIT)
Phoenix, AZ (PHX)
Portland, OR (PDX)
San Diego, CA (SAN)
Toronto, Canada (YYZ)
Mexico City, Mexico (MEX)

Following the opening of the new terminal at Indianapolis please consider the addition of the following routes:

Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
London, UK-Gatwick (LGW)
Tokyo, Japan (NRT)

Indianapolis has become a major global freight and logistics center, and cargo contracts could greatly aid the profitability of many of these routes. This would give NWA thirty nonstop destinations from IND and its WorldPerks members would have most major destinations covered with nonstop routes. This will help solidify customer loyalty as well as providing NWA options for routing their customers. Providing numerous travel options keeps customers coming back.

Please keep this in mind when planning routes for the future.

Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

They probably wont even be in business then ;p

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

stlgph wrote:

They probably wont even be in business then ;p

Hey at least they didn't lose 2 billion dollars in the 1st quarter like another airline

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

Indy wrote:


Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
London, UK-Gatwick (LGW)
Tokyo, Japan (NRT)


It would be nice to have those, but aren't you dreaming big? I think IND will get AMS service though.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I'm not sure if I'd call it dreaming or call it coming up with an alternative for travelers. I'd give us the best chance of getting AMS by 2010. But NW has a chance to provide a very solid alternative to travelers by providing those 3 destinations from the new IND terminal. O/D from IND wouldn't be enough to fill 767's to AMS and LGW and it wouldn't be enough to fill the new 787 to NRT. But O/D combined with some feed and good cargo contracts could make the routes very profitable for NW. But the biggest thing is being able to provide NW customers an alternative when traveling abroad. Flying through places like DTW and MSP provides travelers with frequencies. Flying through IND on international routes provides travelers with easy inspections on return and quick connections. Basically it allows a travelers to choose between convenience (MSP, DTW) and comfort (IND). People may choose to depart from DTW where many departure options are available but return through IND where the international arrivals crowds will be much smaller and the hike to the domestic departure gate will be short. It would certainly be a huge asset to the city as well and I'd expect big incentives to be offered for the type of service I am talking about. If I were the Mayor I'd be offering significant tax breaks to NW to fly to the 30 destinations I mentioned. I know the city would easily make up the difference in exposure.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I'd agree with Indy. If this city and state are serious about moving up into the big leagues among US cities for economic development, then this is one ticket you have to punch to be considered top-tier. It's a stretch to consider IND-NRT maybe, but hey - RDU has a flight to LGW every day, and they're half the size metro area that Indy is. So why not flights to AMS and LGW? And again, it's a stretch for IND-NRT, but it's setting the bar high that gets this town moving forward. Everyone scoffed when Indy set out to be the amateur sports capital of the country. And no one can argue today that it isn't. People scoffed at the recent efforts to become a destination for the arts, and look at the progress already - HQ of the American Pianists Association and the Percussive Arts Society, and many other arts and music successes. People were sceptical of Biocrossroads, and it's paying dividends already. So don't think that Indy can't put forth the effort and upgrade its transportation status.