Isn Northwest legally bound to keeping its headquarters and hub here?
Well, in exchange for help received from the state and Metropolitan Airports Commission, Northwest has promised –several times–to keep its headquarters and hub here. But that doesn’t keep the airline from trying to wiggle out of one or both of those commitments. Northwest has promised to fly an average of 227 daily flights out of the Twin Cities in exchange for financial incentives granted by the Metropolitan Airports Commission. That’s for aircraft with at least 70 seats. Northwest also has a contract with the Metropolitan Airports Commission to lease about 100 gates at the airport … 22 through 2015 and another 79 through 2020. Northwest could try to get out of the contract. But the airport would likely force Northwest to pay for the gates, which cost Northwest about $30 million a year. If Northwest reneges on hub or headquarters pledges, the airline also stands to lose about 450 million dollars. That includes $215 million in rent savings and airport concession revenue through 202
