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Flight future at Northwest is up in the air
With a Northwest Airlines strike threatened to start on midnight Friday, questions are appearing about the impact on both passengers and the airline itself.
The airline promises a contingency plan to replace the striking mechanics will allow it to maintain business as usual with its 1,600 flights and 177,000 daily passengers. Airline executives promised a full schedule in the event of a strike.
The airline, facing possible bankruptcy, says the mechanics need to contribute their share of $1.1 billion in annual savings to get its cost in line with competitors.
Management says it needs at least $176 million in concessions. Management wants to eliminate about half of the mechanic’s jobs.
The two sides were still in talks, but reports were that no progress was being made.
And increasingly, news reports predicted the mechanics would strike.
“A strike by union mechanics at Northwest Airlines is beginning to look more likely,” said ConsumerAffairs.com.
Northwest management says it has 1,500 replacement workers poised to take over from the 4,500 members of the union.
But AMFA members said they doubted the airline could function without them and predicted travel disruptions.
“We believe Northwest miscalculated their ability to bring in replacement workers and continue business as usual,” said Steve MacFarlane, AMFA’s assistant national director.
If the strike does proceed, Federal Aviation Authority inspectors will monitor the performance of Northwest, the nation’s fourth largest carrier.
Some analysts quoted by CNNMoney said the strike could benefit Northwest in the long run if it proves able to conduct business as usual.
The White House could issue an executive order stopping the strike by appointing a panel to reach a compromise, but that seemed unlikely.
Report by David Wilkening
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