AIRLINES

Northwest, KLM Plan Far-Reaching Partnership: Northwest Airlines Inc. and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines are planning a partnership that could make KLM the first foreign carrier to have access to every U.S. city. KLM could be the first beneficiary of a U.S. open skies policy that could lead to similar accords with European carriers willing to give American airlines unrestricted access to their markets. The U.S. Department of Transportation hopes to launch the open skies policy soon. The Northwest-KLM partnership would allow passengers to book flights between any U.S. city and any other KLM destination. KLM, which owns 20% of Northwest’s common stock and 49% of its preferred stock, currently has access to nine gateway cities in the United States.