Northwest should be considering long term

In a move that has crippled Northwest Airlines' business, 6,100 pilots began staging a strike on Saturday.

The sixth largest airlines in the United States refused to allow the pilots a 15 percent increase in salary over the next five years. As of now, the pilots are paid $120,000, about 10 percent less than the industry average of $133,000.

In this one move, Northwest Airlines has committed a rather large, short-sighted blunder. It has allowed its customers to see just what the other airlines offer in terms of quality and service.

The negative impact it leaves on those who are left out in the cold will not soon be forgotten.

The stoppage of 2,640 daily departures from 223 airports that serve over 600,000 people will cause a large drop in revenue, and hence an even larger impact on profits.

Northwest should do everything in its power to end the strike as soon as possible. Every moment and customer lost from this dispute is one less dollar for the stockholders.

Especially in this age of cutthroat competition, Northwest should become more focused on exceeding, not just satisfying customer expectations.