Northwest Airlines will cut more pilot jobs this spring
Liz Fedor
Star Tribune
Published Jan. 29, 2003 NWA29
A protracted slump in the airline industry is prompting Northwest Airlines to cut another 60 pilot jobs.
Northwest's Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) informed pilots Tuesday night that 35 pilots will be laid off in April and 25 in May. Those actions will push the total number of furloughed pilots to 693.
Management met with union leaders Tuesday to relay the layoff news, which came one week after the Eagan-based carrier reported it lost $488 million in the fourth quarter of last year.
Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon said, "The hope was that by last summer there would be a recovery. While flying has come back somewhat from Sept. 11, it is still not at the year 2000 level, which was the last normal year for the industry."
Before layoffs began in 2001, Northwest employed 6,540 pilots.
Based on the severity of the airline's financial problems, ALPA leaders said Tuesday that they will allow management to defer January and February contributions to the pilots' pension plan.
However, ALPA spokesman Will Holman said the union will do more research before taking action on other pension-related requests submitted by Northwest management.
The union employs economic and financial experts and it has hired an independent firm to do a detailed analysis of Northwest's financial condition. The pilots expect to get a financial report in March.
The pilots are scheduled to open contract talks with Northwest later this year.
Northwest also has laid off employees in other job categories. The company's workforce is down by about 12,000 since the 2001 terrorist attacks. Layoffs for about 450 flight attendants took effect earlier this month.
A week ago, CEO Richard Anderson said to employees, "Any way you slice it, we lost a lot of money in 2002 and we must work together to reverse this trend as we go forward in 2003."
In a recorded message, he said, "It is not your fault. It is not our fault. It is not anybody's fault. It is just that the world has changed after 9/11 and we have to adapt to it." Anderson stressed that Northwest must be the "lowest-cost provider of network airline services," so he will continuously look for ways to make the company more efficient.
Liz Fedor
Star Tribune
Published Jan. 29, 2003 NWA29
A protracted slump in the airline industry is prompting Northwest Airlines to cut another 60 pilot jobs.
Northwest's Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) informed pilots Tuesday night that 35 pilots will be laid off in April and 25 in May. Those actions will push the total number of furloughed pilots to 693.
Management met with union leaders Tuesday to relay the layoff news, which came one week after the Eagan-based carrier reported it lost $488 million in the fourth quarter of last year.
Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon said, "The hope was that by last summer there would be a recovery. While flying has come back somewhat from Sept. 11, it is still not at the year 2000 level, which was the last normal year for the industry."
Before layoffs began in 2001, Northwest employed 6,540 pilots.
Based on the severity of the airline's financial problems, ALPA leaders said Tuesday that they will allow management to defer January and February contributions to the pilots' pension plan.
However, ALPA spokesman Will Holman said the union will do more research before taking action on other pension-related requests submitted by Northwest management.
The union employs economic and financial experts and it has hired an independent firm to do a detailed analysis of Northwest's financial condition. The pilots expect to get a financial report in March.
The pilots are scheduled to open contract talks with Northwest later this year.
Northwest also has laid off employees in other job categories. The company's workforce is down by about 12,000 since the 2001 terrorist attacks. Layoffs for about 450 flight attendants took effect earlier this month.
A week ago, CEO Richard Anderson said to employees, "Any way you slice it, we lost a lot of money in 2002 and we must work together to reverse this trend as we go forward in 2003."
In a recorded message, he said, "It is not your fault. It is not our fault. It is not anybody's fault. It is just that the world has changed after 9/11 and we have to adapt to it." Anderson stressed that Northwest must be the "lowest-cost provider of network airline services," so he will continuously look for ways to make the company more efficient.
