Northwest Pilots Vote to Freeze Pensions

Photo: Aeroposte Editor

Concerned with the tenuous financial condition of bankrupt legacy carrier Northwest Airlines, the airline’s five thousand pilots overwhelmingly voted to approve a freeze of their pension plan today. Eighty-two percent of Northwest’s pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) backed an immediate freeze of the program. The latest agreement allows Northwest management to begin transitioning from the current pension plan to a more cost effective one, in which “pilots and the company will contribute a portion of their salary to a retirement account, with no promise for a fixed payout.” Although the latest agreement is a positive step for the ailing carrier, further agreements must be forged between Northwest and the unions representing the airline’s flight attendants and ground personnel. If an impasse remains by January 17, the carrier will ask the bankruptcy court to reject all unfavorable union contracts. In retaliation, the various unions have threatened to strike if their contracts are rejected by the bankruptcy court.