There is a meltdown underway within Northwest Airlines. Each day their problems get worse and worse. Northwest has been canceling huge amounts of flights, upwards of 10%. Pilots are allowed to fly only a certain amount of hours in a month and Northwest doesn't have enough pilots. This means at some points in the month, they don't have enough pilots to fly their airplanes. If your flight is going to be canceled by Northwest you want to push them to book you on another airline. If you don't, you could be stranded somewhere for a long time. Don't bother using the phone to reach them either because they won't answer. Try using the web and don't get stranded.