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(AP) - Northwest Airlines said on Wednesday that its
creditors approved its reorganization plan, another key step in its
plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection next month.

      An unofficial vote tally shows that almost 97 percent of
creditors who voted approved the plan, the airline said. Final
results will be filed in bankruptcy court in New York later this
week.

      A confirmation hearing on Northwest's reorganization plan is set
to begin May 16, and Northwest has said it expects to emerge from
bankruptcy in June. It has been operating under bankruptcy
protection since Sept. 14, 2005.

      The plan calls for Northwest's secured creditors to be paid in
full, so they didn't get to vote on it. 

Most of Northwest's
unsecured creditors are expected to be paid roughly 74 cents on the
dollar, payable in shares in the newly reorganized company. 

The
Northwest plan calls for its existing shares to be canceled, and
those shareholders would receive nothing.

      Last week Eagan-based Northwest Airlines Corp. said it had
resolved objections by a group of investors who hold claims in the
bankruptcy. The group had objected to several parts of Northwest's
plan, such as its poison pill and requirements that two-thirds of
shareholders approve any changes to the company's certificate of
incorporation and bylaws. 

Northwest changed the two-thirds vote
requirement to a simple majority and said those claims holders had
agreed to support the plan.

      "We appreciate our creditors' confidence in the Northwest plan
of reorganization, which provides creditors with a stake in
Northwest Airlines going forward and represents a substantial
recovery on their unsecured claims," Northwest President and CEO
Doug Steenland said in a prepared statement.

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Joshua Freed

Author

Northwest Airlines said its creditors approved its reorganization plan, another key step in its
plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection next month. An unofficial vote tally shows that almost 97 percent of creditors who voted approved the plan.

Northwest says creditors approve its reorganization plan

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