Northwest Airlines planes are parked at the gates at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Mich., Wednesday. Northwest Airlines Corp., and Delta Air Lines Inc., hobbled by high fuel costs and heavy debt and pension obligations, filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors Wednesday, becoming the third and fourth major carriers to enter Chapter 11 since the 2001 terrorist attacks. Northwest, the country’s fourth-largest airline, had been in better financial shape than some of its competitors, with an extensive Asian network and cargo business both thought to be profitable. But that changed after 9-11, the rise in fuel prices and the epidemic of SARS.
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