
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 6, 1991                   TAG: 9102060095
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MINNEAPOLIS                                LENGTH: Short

PAN AM TO TRIM 4,000 JOBS; NORTHWEST PLANS FUEL-COST SURCHARGE

Northwest Airlines said Tuesday it would impose a $15 surcharge on round-trip tickets beginning Friday to cover rising costs.

Northwest said the surcharge was meant to offset increases in fuel costs and security expenses since Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2.

Also Tuesday, Pan Am Corp. said it would cut 4,000 jobs and reduce service to Europe due the sharp decline in travel across the Atlantic.

Northwest's announcement marked the fourth rate increase in the airline industry in six months.

"In no way have we come close to capturing the revenue we lost in the fourth quarter, when fuel prices were highest," said Northwest spokeswoman Christy Clapp. The amount of that loss is not available, since Northwest has not yet released its fourth-quarter report for last year.

Clapp said the airline decided to add the charge instead of cutting its domestic schedule.

Airline industry analyst Paul Turk of Avmark Inc. in Arlington, Va., said Northwest probably would not be able to make the surcharge stick if other carriers did not follow with increases.

Officials at American, Delta, United, Continental, TWA, Pan Am and America West said the surcharge was being studied but no decisions had been made.

by CNB