Friday, August 12, 2005

Elizabeth Conley / The Detroit News Northwest Airlines has reserved hundreds of hotel rooms for replacement workers near Metropolitan Airport, its largest hub.

Northwest readies 3,000 to take strikers' jobs

Airline forced to cancel some flights after apparent slowdown as Aug. 20 deadline nears.

By Joel J. Smith / The Detroit News

Jim Mone / Associated Press Representatives from numerous unions in St. Paul, Minn., show support for mechanics and flight attendants who may strike at Northwest. Traveling Northwest If there's a strike against Northwest Airlines or a disruption in service: • Northwest will waive all fare rules for ticket holders. • The airline will attempt to rebook passengers on other Northwest flights. • Northwest will refund the cost of nonrefundable tickets. • In some cases, Northwest will rebook passengers on a competitor's airline, but travelers should remember most flights are already operating near capacity. • If a passenger's trip includes hotel rooms and other expenses, consumers should think about buying trip insurance. But make sure the insurance covers airline disruptions. Source: Northwest Airlines Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

Northwest Airlines Corp. has more than 3,000 replacement workers trained and ready to fill in if mechanics strike against the carrier Aug. 20, Northwest CEO Doug Steenland said.

The replacement workers will be able to step in for mechanics, aircraft cleaners and other workers represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, as well as for flight attendants, who may walk off their jobs in sympathy.

"We have a plan in place to have these (replacements) properly deployed between now and Aug. 19," Steenland said Thursday.

The replacements will begin as temporary workers but could become permanent if a strike is prolonged. Northwest has reserved hundreds of hotel rooms for the replacement workers near Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the carrier's largest hub, with nearly 600 daily departures.

If there's a strike, Northwest vows to continuing operating 100 percent of its flights using replacement workers, third-party vendors and management. But there are some indications that flights may already be slowing.

Bob Rose, president of the mechanics union local in Detroit, said that on Tuesday night, 42 aircrafts were out of service, double the normal number, causing the cancellation of some flights. However, that number dropped to 20 on Wednesday night.

The union says its mechanics have not been conducting a work slowdown.

There are 450 mechanics and 350 aircraft cleaners based at Detroit Metro.

The 4,430 members of the airline's mechanics union have threatened to strike if Northwest doesn't back down from its demand that the union accept concessions, including nearly 2,000 job cuts, that would save $176 million annually.

Rose doesn't believe an agreement can be reached before Aug. 20 or that the airline can keep operating during a strike.

"I don't believe they have enough trained and qualified mechanics to step in," Rose, president of AMFA Local 5, said Thursday. "One of those managers has worked at a desk for 20 years, yet he is listed as an A-Team mechanic. It's the same old rhetoric they've been spouting for months."

On Thursday, Northwest outlined its strike contingency plan.

Andy Roberts, Northwest's executive vice president of operations, said the airline has trained 1,200 mechanics, mostly laid-off from other major airlines, as replacement workers. There also are about 300 to 350 managers with mechanic licenses and another 400 mechanics available from third-party vendors, he said.

In a conference call Thursday, Steenland told reporters that the airline has enough mechanics to operate a full flight schedule.

"In the ordinary course of business, our hub stations (Detroit, Minneapolis and Memphis) would need about 800 to run the airline," Steenland said. "We will have over 1,200 ready to go."

Northwest also plans to eliminate 800 airplane cleaners, contracting an outside vendor to do the work at night. Members of another union, the International Association of Machinists, will do the cleaning during the days.

"The scope of our contingency plan covers 100 percent of AMFA-supported activities," Roberts said.

Northwest maintains that flight attendants are prohibited from honoring another union's picket line, but expect some sympathetic members not to cross a picket line.

Northwest also said that it will move its fall flight schedule up several weeks to Aug. 20, which would reduce its number of flights by 10 percent. If there's a strike, the move could lessen the stress for Northwest, which handles about 1,500 flights daily worldwide.

Roberts said that Northwest recently recalled about 600 furloughed flight attendants, and with replacement hires -- nonunion white-collar workers trained to fill in for attendants and management personnel -- it has about 1,500 people ready to step in.

One step Northwest may not take is using charter carrier Champion Air to fly Northwest flights. After the airline did so for one flight this week, the Air Line Pilots Association protested, saying only Northwest pilots can fly Northwest planes. The pilots union said the airline agreed not to use Champion in the future.

Northwest has been working on its strike contingency plan for the 18 months. Officials said they knew they might face a possible strike if the airline's unions refused to help cut costs by accepting concessions. Northwest has had $3.6 billion in operating losses since 2001.

Three years ago, Steenland told Northwest's 39,000 workers they would have to accept concessions of pay, benefits and work rule changes for the Eagan, Minn.-based carrier to survive. Northwest, which has cut $1.7 billion in operating costs, says it still needs union cutbacks worth $1.1 billion annually to survive.

Northwest's 5,500 pilots accepted a $265 million cutback amounting to a 15 percent cut in pay. Nonunion workers gave up $35 million.

While negotiations are continuing with Northwest's flight attendants and other smaller unions, the mechanics have been the most militant. Mechanics average $94,000 in pay and benefits, the airline said.

Without enough concessions, Northwest officials have said the airline may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

So far, the mechanics union has told Northwest it will not give up $176 million in concessions.

The two sides are scheduled to meet with the National Mediation Board on Monday to resume talks in a last attempt to reach agreement.

You can reach Joel J. Smith at (313) 222-2556 or jsmith@detnews.com.