Northwest airlines has announced 2,500 job cuts due to soaring jet fuel costs.

The cuts comprise 8 percent of the Minnesota-based airline's staff, including management personnel, the BBC reports.

Northwest also recently introduced a fee for checking in a bag.

The airline plans to merge with Delta, which has also incurred multi-billion dollar losses in 2008. This union between the two still depends on competition authorities' approval as well as that of unions.

Other possible mergers include United Airlines and Continental.

Costs have also caused a drop in the demand for domestic flights. This additional hit to the airline industry has caused a number of companies to cut flights.