Commitment - Properly accommodate disabled/special needs passengers

Unaccompanied Minor Program

Northwest Airlines provides supervision for children accepted under the program from the time of boarding until the child is met at the final destination. Unaccompanied minors ages 5 through 17 may fly on non-stop, direct or connecting flights. Children cannot be booked on the last connecting flight of the day. Unaccompanied minor service is mandatory for children ages 5-14 and optional for children ages 15-17 carries a service fee.

On the departure day, the party accompanying the child to their flight checks them in at the ticket counter and completes an Unaccompanied Minor Form which includes the identification of the party authorized to receive the child at the final destination. An indentification bracelet, which all Northwest Airlines customer service personnel recognize as identifying unaccompanied minors, is placed on the child.

The paperwork for the child is presented to the Customer Service Agent at the gate who signs it and presents the child to the lead Flight Attendant who escorts the child to their seat. Northwest Airlines designates specific seating for unaccompanied minors to further assist flight attendants in tracking their location during the flight. The lead Flight Attendant signs off on the paperwork for the minor.

At the final destination of non-stop flights, the Flight Attendant escorts the minor off the aircraft and transfers them to a Customer Service Agent or directly to awaiting parent or guardian who confirms the identity and obtains the signature of the person meeting the minor.

Upon arrival at the hub, if the trip itinerary includes a connecting flight, the minor is met and escorted to their connecting flight by a Northwest Customer Service Agent or a Quality Service Assistant. If there is a long layover, or the hub is their final destination but the minor's party didn't meet the flight, they are escorted to a Northwest Airlines Unaccompanied Minor Room.

Northwest's Unaccompanied Minor Rooms in Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis/St. Paul are open year round and provide a private, secure area where unaccompanied children can wait for a connecting flight.

Northwest employees staffing the Unaccompanied Minor room are responsible for:

• Ensuring the minor's comfort and safety during layovers at connecting hubs.
• Coordinating the transfer of the minor from their arrival flight to their departure flight.
• Providing access to books, televisions, games and toys.

In the event of a flight reroute, cancellation or delay, Northwest Airlines personnel will contact parties listed on the Unaccompanied Minor service form as soon as possible to notify them of the changes and the provisions being made for the child.

A Quality Service Assistant escorts the minor to the gate at departure time and presents the paperwork and the minor to the Customer Service Agent at the gate who signs the paperwork and presents the minor to the lead Flight Attendant who escorts the child to their seat.

Additional information is available in the brochure "Unaccompanied Minor Program" (see attachment B)

Passengers with Disabilities

Northwest works closely with authorities at all airports served to ensure increased accessibility for people with disabilities.

• Electric carts and/or wheelchairs are available at all airport locations for individuals who require this equipment.
• Future deliveries of all new aircraft include disabled accessible features.
• Northwest Customer Service personnel or contracted vendors will assist people with disabilities in boarding and departing an aircraft with boarding chairs uniquely designed for narrow aircraft aisles.

All individuals with disabilities are accepted for transportation on Northwest regardless of disability or degree of disability except as follows:

An attendant for a qualified individual with a disability is required only for a person traveling on a stretcher or in an incubator. The attendant for such a person must be capable of tending to the customer's in-flight medical needs and will be required to purchase a ticket for travel.

Northwest will not require a qualified individual with a disability to provide advance notice of his/her intention to travel or of his/her disability as a condition for travel or receiving services or accommodations except as follows:

Forty-eight hours advance notice and one-hour advance check-in is required of a qualified individual with a disability who requests the following services or accommodations:

• Medical oxygen for use on the aircraft
• Carriage of an incubator
• Hook up for a respirator to the aircraft electrical power supply where available
• Accommodation for a customer who must travel on a stretcher
• Provision by Northwest of hazardous materials
• Packaging for a battery for a wheelchair or other assisting device
• Accommodation for a group of ten or more qualified individuals with disabilities who make reservations and travel as a group Provision of an onboard wheelchair on an aircraft that does not have an accessible lavatory.
• Use of a wheelchair lift or ramp device for boarding and deplaning from ramp level when there are no boarding bridges.

When a customer does not meet advance notice or check-in requirements, Northwest shall nonetheless provide the service, equipment or accommodation if it can do so by making a reasonable effort without delaying the flight.

Improvements

• A Consumer Advisory Board on disability issues will be formed to assist Northwest by providing feedback and recommendations on customer service policies and procedures for passengers with disabilities. Individuals from national disability organizations are represented on the Customer Advisory board:
  • Access-Able Travel Source
  • Little People of America (LPA)
  • National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
  • Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)
  • Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc. (SHHH)
  • Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality (SATH)
  • Ventures Travel

Training

• All Ground Operation management employees receive initial training on customers with disabilities as well as annual recurrent training focused specifically on disability issues.
• Customer First Service Commitments have been incorporated into the Flight Attendant and Pilots policy manuals advising them of their obligations under the Customers First plan.

Measurement

• Northwest will continue to use customer complaints measured internally by Northwest's Customer Care Department along with measurements from the Department of Transportation to measure customer satisfaction.
• Northwest will solicit feedback from the Customer Advisory Board on Disability Issues