Jan 17, 2006 8:00 am US/Central
NWA Backs Off Some Proposals For Unions
Minneapolis (AP) ―
On the eve of a bankruptcy labor trial, Northwest Airlines publicly said it has moved off of some of the proposals its unions find most objectionable in a fight over cutting costs.
In a bankruptcy filing, the airline backed away from some of its demands on its pilots and flight attendants unions.
For instance, under a new proposal in Friday's filing, Northwest pilots would retain the ability to fly airplanes with 77 to 100 seats. Northwest had pushed to shift that flying to a new company -- and the pilots threatened to strike.
Northwest had also pressed to use nonunion attendants for three-quarters of trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic flights, and on all domestic flights on planes with 100 or fewer seats. Now, the airline offered to move the ratio to a 50/50 mix of foreign and domestic flight attendants on international flights -- if the union agreed to wage reductions to make up the difference in cost.
A trial on the issue is set to begin Tuesday in New York.
Northwest wants to quickly reach its goal of cutting labor costs by $1.4 billion a year. In December, management and salaried employees took their second wave of pay and benefit cuts, which are expected to save the airline $71 million annually. Northwest argues that it is running out of time to reduce its labor costs, the highest in the industry before temporary pay cuts took effect in November for most union workers.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper has the power to abrogate the contract of about 5,700 pilots within 30 days. He also could toss out the contract that covers almost 10,000 flight attendants represented by the Professional Flight Attendants Association.
Northwest has lost more than $4 billion since 2001, and its cash balance has dropped to $1.24 billion, the airline said Friday in the bankruptcy filing.
-------
Northwest Airlines was founded in 1926, when it began carrying air mail from the Twin Cities to Chicago on a pair of rented, open-cockpit biplanes. The company began transporting ticketed passengers almost a year later.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
