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by Esme Murphy
Minneapolis (WCCO) ― Around-the-clock negotiations continue between Northwest Airlines and its pilots' union after both sides missed a bankruptcy judge's Wednesday evening deadline for an agreement.

Without an agreement, the airline now has the option to throw out the contracts and impose new contracts.

"We are not commenting on whether or when we would impose new contract terms on the pilots," Northwest said in a statement. "We agree progress continues to be made. We will continue negotiating until the judge makes his decision."

Judge Allan Gropper said he is expecting to hear from both sides again Thursday night.

The pilots' union said it is continuing to negotiate with the airline on new contracts for the pilots that could include hefty pay cuts. Two pay cuts have already sliced 39 percent from their wages.

Northwest pilot Don Burham said, "They have talked about every issue that on the table, every issue that critical to reaching an agreement. I think that the sides could reach an agreement in a short amount of time. I mean, they could have had one last week, honestly, if they'd just met the concerns that we have."

The pilots' union announced Tuesday that pilots overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike. More than 4,000 pilots voted, and 92 percent said they would be willing to walk off the job if a bankruptcy judge in New York throws out the current contract and Northwest then imposes new terms.

Talks continued overnight Tuesday into Wednesday in hopes of reaching an agreement. Pilots held an informational strike Tuesday as they awaited word on the contracts.

Earlier Wednesday, the union representing Northwest Airlines flight attendants announced it had reached a tentative agreement with the airline.

That agreement means the flight attendants' current contract could not be thrown out by a bankruptcy court judge.

The Eagan, Minn.-based carrier filed for bankruptcy protection Sept. 14 and is the nation's fourth-largest carrier. Bankrupt carriers can ask a judge to let them reject their contracts, including union contracts. Northwest has said it needs worker concessions to be profitable again.

The agreement includes pay cuts and work rule changes. While the flight attendants' union did not offer details, Northwest Airlines said it secured $195 million in annual savings that it was seeking from flight attendants.

The union said Northwest dropped its demand to use more non-U.S. flight attendants on overseas flights, which had been at the core of its strike threat.

Karen Schultz of the Northwest Flight Attendants Union said, "They did not want our job security provisions touched ... that means foreign outsourcing and protection in case of a merger and not one word in that section was touched."

The flight attendant deal still must be accepted by union leaders and approved by a vote of the 9,700 members of the Professional Flight Attendants Association.

"Certainly, Northwest management must comprehend the difficult situation this concessionary agreement puts our members in, and as such we hope that they recognize that now they must treat all employees with great respect in order to heal the damage the bankruptcy process has inflicted upon our carrier," PFAA President Guy Meek said in a prepared statement.

If either of the unions "attempt to strike Northwest Airlines, the company would seek an immediate injunction," the company said on Wednesday.

Northwest has been seeking $1.4 billion in savings from all its workers. The flight attendant agreement left only pilots without at least a tentative agreement. The airline's groundworkers are voting on their own tentative agreement.

A New York bankruptcy judge had told the parties to make a deal by Wednesday.

The company said it expected Judge Gropper to rule "in the near future" on its request to overturn the pilot contract.

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