Northwest Pilots Strike Tentative Deal

Photo: Aeroposte Editor

Northwest Airlines and union officials representing pilots at the nation’s fourth largest airline reached a tentative pay-cut deal late Friday night. Although few details of the agreement have been released, Northwest management reported that they successfully negotiated the $358 million in savings they sought at the onset of the arbitration process. Both sides most ratify the pact before the cost-savings can be implemented. The agreement defused the potential for a strike, which had been authorized by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) if the bankruptcy court judge imposed these cuts without union consent. Mark McClain, the head of the Northwest branch of ALPA , characterized the agreement as “a painful but necessary part of a successful restructuring of Northwest Airlines.” Following in the footsteps of embattled legacy carrier United Airlines, which recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Northwest has used its bankruptcy status as leverage against the traditionally strong unions representing airline employees. These pay-cuts are the second round of salary adjustments at Northwest, which slashed pilot pay 15% in 2003. According to Airline labor relations expert Daniel Petree of Embry-Riddle University, Northwest is hardly out of danger though: “If I were on either side of the bargaining table I wouldn’t assume my work is done”, he quipped in an Associated Press article.