DETROIT - A new increase in flight cancellations by Northwest Airlines is coming at a critical time for the carrier as it tries to rally customer support for two coveted nonstop routes from Detroit to China.

Cancellations last weekend inched up to more than 70 per day and stood at 52 at 6 p.m. yesterday, according to consumer Web site flightstats.com. Northwest disputes those numbers, saying of the roughly 1,400 flights per day, it had a completion rate of 97 percent yesterday. That would be 42 cancellations.

The latest uptick in cancellations is far milder than late last month when the carrier scratched more than 1,000 flights in about a week. Still, cancellations were high enough to make observers wonder whether the airline should win a new China route when it is having trouble managing its current flight schedule.

"They e-mailed me and my wife asking for support, and I deleted" the e-mails "immediately," said Bloomfield Hills, Mich., resident Larry Miller, whose daughter’s wedding was marred last month by numerous flight cancellations. "Whether they get a Detroit-to-China flight doesn’t concern me. Let them take care of flights to New York, and when I see them improve what they’re doing, then I’ll think about it."

Last week, Northwest filed papers with the Department of Transportation to authorize it to fly Detroit-Shanghai nonstop beginning this year and Detroit-Beijing nonstop beginning in 2009. If the route is approved, 100 U.S. cities will have single-connection service to China through Detroit. NWA was previously turned down for a Detroit-China route.

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