Northwest is looking for volunteers...to quit.

Northwest Airlines announced today that it will be eliminating 2,500 management and front-line jobs. President and CEO Doug Steenland is blaming fuel costs.

Who is getting clipped? Nobody. For now, the airline is asking for volunteers. The incentive for giving up your Northwest job in the thick of a recession? The airline isn't saying. A call to the Northwest media relations office went like this:

CP: Who am I speaking with?
NW: My name is Spokes Person
CP: I see. What incentive is Northwest offering its employees who volunteer to give up their jobs?
NW: Um, you know what...hold on...(Long silence)...We're not releasing that information at this time.

Spokes Person tells City Pages that there is no way to accurately forecast how many Twin Cities jobs will be cut or when they'll end the volunteer drive and start clipping people themselves. "We'll have to wait and see," she says.

Here's an incentive idea: a special Northwest Airlines "Took One for the Team" voucher that gets you out of the new $15 fee for your first checked bag. Just a thought.