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Yet the complaints of travelers and small airlines have begun to reach Washington. The DOT is about to institute guidelines aimed at preventing "predatory" pricing, and Democratic Congressman John Dingell of Michigan last week introduced a bill to foster more competition in hub cities. Meanwhile, Northwest, which has five more union contracts to negotiate, is hoping to move from its labor problems to winning back angry customers. "We will do whatever is necessary to regain their trust and their business," vows Laughlin. For Northwest, and the rest of the industry, it will be a long journey.
--Reported by Wendy Cole/Minneapolis, Tammerlin Drummond/Miami, Aixa M. Pascual/New York and Adam Zagorin/Washington, with other bureaus