Top News

Minneapolis (AP) ― A bankruptcy judge said he won't block a strike by Northwest Airlines Corp. flight attendants, a union victory that could lead to random, unannounced walkouts beginning Aug. 25 if the two sides don't make a deal.

Northwest has said even limited work stoppages could put it out of business for good.

But Thursday's ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper in New York said that regardless of the danger a strike puts Northwest in, labor law gives him no authority to stop one.

The union and the airline both said they would rather make a deal, and Gropper's ruling eight days before the strike deadline seemed to leave plenty of time. But no talks were scheduled.

"This group of flight attendants wants to fight," said Mollie Reiley, head of the Northwest branch of the Association of Flight Attendants. "They are not going to accept what's on the table. So we're looking for a new offer."

Northwest said it planned to appeal the ruling on Friday.

The nation's fifth-largest airline said it needs $195 million a year in savings from flight attendants, who have twice voted down tentative agreements that cut that deep. The most recent rejection came despite the endorsement of union leaders. After the most recent vote on July 31, Northwest, with Judge Gropper's permission, imposed the first contract that flight attendants had rejected, triggering the union strike threat.

The new terms included a 21 percent pay cut; flight attendants said it amounts to 40 percent when health insurance increases are added in. Also, flight attendants lost their pay for when a plane is parked because of delays -- especially irksome when travel restrictions because of terror threats in London are causing extra delays.

A deal, a court ruling, or presidential action could all head off a strike.

Without one of those things, flight attendants have said they will impose what they call "CHAOS," for Create Havoc Around Our System, at 9:01 p.m. on Aug. 25.

Instead of a traditional full-scale walkout, the union's CHAOS plan calls for random stoppages with little or no advance notice. So flight attendants might strike a single flight, or certain gates, or might stage a full walkout for, say, 20 minutes. Although the individual stoppages may not disrupt the airline's operations, the uncertainty can drive travelers to other airlines.

Northwest sought to downplay the risk of disruptions. It said it "has a range of contingency options to respond to any AFA work disruption and it will take all necessary actions to continue to operate its normal flight schedule."

"We remain committed to continuing to serve our customers professionally and transporting them to their destinations safely and reliably. Our customers can continue to book Northwest with confidence," Northwest Chief Executive Doug Steenland said.

In asking Gropper to block the strike, Northwest Vice President Julie Hagen Showers testified on Aug. 9 that even intermittent strikes "would clearly put us on the brink of collapse and in danger of liquidation."

"If we lost 20 percent of our traffic, we could not sustain ourselves. If we simply allowed it to happen, the company would liquidate," she said then. On Thursday, Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon declined to talk about whether the airline could sustain job actions by flight attendants.

Darryl Jenkins, who teaches airline management at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., said it's a good bet that Northwest has a plan for handling the strike.

"These guys are very methodical. They think about things for a long time before they implement them," such as a mechanics' strike last August that Northwest planned months in advance to break.

"They just killed the mechanics last year. So you know they've got some kind of a plan in place," Jenkins said.

Terry Trippler, airline expert at Minneapolis travel Web site myvacationpassport.com, said he isn't telling people to book away from Northwest yet.

"I feel confident they will get this thing settled," Trippler said.

But that isn't stopping some from choosing other airlines. He said a passenger told him on Thursday that he would be flying to Hawaii on Continental Airlines and to New York on Sun Country Airlines because of the labor dispute.

Trippler said he doesn't know how many people are doing the same but "there's more than just him."

Jack Kasarda suspects as much. The management professor and aviation expert at the University of North Carolina's business school said the turmoil is probably already hurting bookings. Fare sales, such as the one Northwest is running now for travel booked by Friday, won't overcome that, he said.

"This has consequences in decisions of future fliers who are going to avoid Northwest in significant numbers. Because when you plan to fly you have got to have a feeling that that plane is going to go," he said.

In the same ruling, Gropper denied the union's request to force Northwest to impose a different contract that was more favorable to workers. AFA general counsel David Borer said he didn't know yet whether it would appeal.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)