NWA, Pilots’ Union May Be Near Deal

WASHINGTON _ Northwest Airlines appeared closer to a deal with at least one of its unions Thursday as a bankruptcy judge is to rule Friday on Northwest’s request to throw out labor contracts for pilots and flight attendants.

All sides are expected in front of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper in New York at noon, with the deadline for a ruling by 5 p.m. If there’s no agreement, Gropper would decide whether Northwest may void contracts with the Air Line Pilots Association, with 5,000 active Northwest members, and the Professional Flight Attendants Association, with about 9,000 Northwest members.

Northwest and its pilots’ union say they have reached the outlines of an agreement over whether union pilots would fly regional jets for the airline, but several issues remain unresolved. A spokesman for the flight attendants said progress in their talks has been “excruciatingly slow.”

The company contends it could not successfully emerge from bankruptcy without the $1.4 billion in labor concessions it seeks, including permanent job, salary and benefit cuts. Northwest says it needs $361 million in annual cost cuts from the pilots’ union contracts and $195 million from flight attendants.

The unions contend Northwest wants unreasonable cuts, and both bargaining units have asked members to authorize a strike. Northwest says if it prevails and the unions move toward strikes, it would ask the judge to bar the unions from walking out.

In comments to Minnesota newspapers Wednesday, Northwest Chief Executive Officer Doug Steenland said talks were progressing and that the company and pilots had reached a framework for the most contentious issue of regional flying.

Unlike its larger competitors, Northwest’s routes are concentrated in the Midwest. The company says one-fifth of its domestic revenues comes from airports where it should fly aircraft that seat 70 to 100 people.

Airlines typically outsource to regional carriers the flying of jets that seat up to 70 passengers, but Northwest’s contract with the pilots’ union contains strict limits on outsourcing.

Northwest’s original proposal, and one the union says the company is pursuing, would have set up a separate subsidiary, called NewCo, with up to 95 planes that could carry 76 passengers.

The union contends such planes are too similar to what its pilots fly today in Northwest’s aging DC-9s, which account for 20 percent of its fleet.

The pilots’ union has told its members that, while there has been some progress in talks, there are large differences in several key areas, including whether pilots would get equity in Northwest once it emerges from bankruptcy.

Union spokesman Will Holman said Thursday that talks would likely continue around the clock through Friday.

Peter Fiske, a spokesman for the flight attendants’ union, said it hopes a deal could be reached but that the company and the union had reached no agreement on several key issues, including Northwest’s proposal to use foreign flight attendants on international flights to and from the United States.

Leaders of both unions have asked their members to approve a strike, with the pilots’ vote set to end Tuesday and the flight attendants voting through March 6.

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