Posted on 03/02/2006 11:22:10 AM PST by La Enchiladita
Negotiations between Northwest Airlines (NWACQ:OTC BB) and its pilots reached a critical point Thursday as a bankruptcy court deadline for a deal expired.
Meanwhile, talks between Delta Air Lines (DALRQ:OTC BB) and its pilots are headed for arbitration.
In the Northwest case, it's unclear when U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Allan Gropper will issue a ruling on whether the airline can impose contract terms on its pilots, a move that would likely lead to a strike. Gropper didn't say when he would rule, according to a Wednesday night posting on the Web site for the Northwest chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association.
"Under the law, Northwest technically could implement its proposal pending decision by the judge, but ALPA does not expect the company to do so absent advance notice," the posting said.
Both sides have said that progress is being made in the talks, but crucial issues remain. Northwest did, however, reach a deal with its flight attendants union on Wednesday. That agreement involves wage concessions of $195 million annually, as the airline seeks to reduce annual labor costs by $1.4 billion.
The International Association of Machinists is presenting a contract settlement proposal to Northwest ground workers.
At Delta, the airline and its pilots are going to arbitration after failing to reach a deal by the deadline for a negotiated settled. Arbitration is slated to begin March 13. Delta has indicated it wants to impose $325 million worth of cuts in bankruptcy court, after pilots agreed in 2004 to accept about $1 billion worth of concessions.
Both Delta and Northwest filed for bankruptcy court protection last September.
There goes all my Frequent Flyer miles...
The larger problem is the debt burden that the airlines have self imposed. That is a management problem. If they can't figure it out the airlines should liquidate and make room for Jet Blue and Southwest.
"There goes all my Frequent Flyer miles..."
Fortunately, I hadn't built up many NWA miles. Looks like they aren't going to be much use, anyhow.
I know the pilots have already taken a total of 39% cuts in pay. Do you know what pay cuts management has taken? I can't seem to find that anywhere.
The fun part will be,
seeing the employees run off with everything
that isn't nailed down.
I have flight purchased with miles booked on Saturday on Northwest......
And flight attendants have taken 21% cut since last November; they're just existing on travel benefits.
I did a lot of googling and couldn't find it either. . .
I DON'T WANT TO FLY WITH A DISGRUNTLED PILOT
And the point I am trying to make is, if NWA goes under, everyone makes $0.00 per hour. Multiplied out, that is an annual income of $000,000.00.................
"Remember, 39% of nothing is..................
"
Yes, I understand that. I'm just trying to find out if management has taken any cuts themselves. If they're asking the pilots, etc., to take cuts that large, I think they might want to cut their own pay a bit...if they're really interested in saving the airline.
Boo hoo. All they do is hand out peanuts and pillows.
Don't know what management cuts are but I think I read that office folks also surrendered about a third of their pay. Its a total shame how this company was looted by its owners in the 1980s. Al Checci, et al., loaded up all their airplanes with new debt to the point that the slightest dip on passenger traffic would take them under water.
Ya got a point.........I would have to assume that, otherwise they would be fools, and I do not believe stockholders would tolerate that.....
Thanks. You're right about the corporate looting that went on, and probably still is. Bonuses when the company's failing and that sort of thing.
I have mixed feelings on this. One side of me wants NWA to simply close its doors and let other airlines take over the MSP traffic. It's a good market and has the passenger load, so there will be folks wanting to move in.
The other side of me would like to see NWA reorganize in a new business model and get back to work, since MSP is their headquarters hub. There are benefits to having a local line hubbing the airport.
From reading the local media on the subject, though, I don't see NWA recovering from this. Quality has slipped seriously since I first few on NWA.
The mechanics strike caused problems. My last flight, from LAX to MSP, ended with a flaps-up landing at MSP. Flaps wouldn't lower. I don't like flaps-up landings on planes I'm on. Fortunately, no harm done, but...that's really not an acceptable thing.
I fly a lot, and there were unusual noises, wingside, after takeoff. Then, we get to MSP and circle around for an hour while they try to get the flaps down. No joy.
So, we did a hot landing, on the new runway. Full reverse thrust on touchdown. Plenty of room, but hot landings like that often pop tires. Now, it could be just a fluke, but the mechanics strike worries me on airlines.
They did make an announcement about why we were circling, mentioning a "slight" problem with the flaps. Just before landing, though, the pilot says, "Well, folks, we've taken care of that little problem and we'll be landing immediately."
Right. No flaps. Feh!
Airplanes are designed to land flaps up - it just takes more runway and is COMPLETELY safe, nowhere near the limits - and nearly every landing involves using full reverse thrust.
Since we moved down here, I fly out of Springfield, MO on the little jets. I find that Springfield is a spoke on NWA, UA, and AA hub systems. The little jet airlines could do this business without being pounded by NWA, and the other "parent" lines. The airport is about one hour from where I live so its not that bad.
Maybe you can offer a plan to NWA for passenger amenities, health and safety to be self-service. I'm sure you'd love to fly in an airplane with a hundred other passengers, the captain and first officer in a locked cockpit.
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