JonnyKnoxville
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By Margarita Bauza and Jewel Gopwani, Detroit Free Press
Northwest Airlines' pattern of cancellations continued Sunday, with more than 200 flights dropped as pilots who were pushed to the limit of hours they are allowed to fly each month stayed home from work.
The airline blamed the pilots, who in turn blamed the airline for failing to address staff shortfalls after it canceled more than 2,000 flights in June, many of them toward the end of the month.
Passengers suffered again Sunday, especially at Detroit Metro Airport.
"It's their own internal problem but they just pass it on to you," said Joe Czarnecki, who was trying to fly to New York with his wife after attending a wedding in Detroit.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Detroit | Northwest | August | Terry Trippler | Roman Blahoski | Monty Montgomery
The Czarneckis learned through a voice mail that their flight home was canceled and that they were rescheduled on a flight today. Because that would force them to miss work, the couple bought two $500 tickets with Continental for a Sunday flight, only to find out that flight was grounded, too, because of bad weather in the East.
The couple said Northwest's customer service kept disconnecting them because of the high call volume.
"They give you a recording because they don't have any guts," Joe Czarnecki said.
A bad weekend for travelers
Northwest, Metro Airport's largest carrier, canceled 514 flights nationwide Friday through Sunday evening. On Sunday, Metro Airport had 49 of the cancellations by 6 p.m., the most of any city, according to flightstats.com. The website collects travel data from sources that include airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control reports.
Northwest, which emerged from bankruptcy reorganization at the end of May, also canceled large numbers of flights in late June, when the pilot issue first came to light. The airline first blamed the weather but later said pilot absenteeism was the problem. Pilots say they are overworked and are flying the maximum 90 hours per month that their contract allows.
The FAA sets the monthly maximum at 100. But if pilots flew 100 hours a month year-round, they would surpass the 1,000 hours of annual flight time the FAA allows.
Northwest canceled 2,376 flights in June and had reached 1,711 cancellations in July by Sunday evening on a schedule that it reduced by 3% after last month's troubles.
Airline analyst Terry Trippler said the cancellations are hurting Northwest's image.
"Many people are asking whether Northwest is dysfunctional," Trippler said. "August should be much better, and if it isn't, Northwest has some serious problems."
Trippler said the airline plans its schedules a month in advance and couldn't do much about July by the time trouble became apparent in June.
NWA calls it absenteeism
Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski blamed pilots, citing a memo from CEO Officer Doug Steenland that went out to employees Friday afternoon.
The memo alerted them of upcoming cancellations and procedures for accommodating stranded travelers.
"It stated that beginning Friday morning we noticed a spike in narrow-body pilot absenteeism," Blahoski said, referring to pilots who fly DC9, A319, A320 and 757 aircraft.
"That is forcing us to cancel flights," Blahoski said Sunday. "We first noticed it Friday morning and it continued yesterday."
Blahoski said pilots were not being asked to fly more than 90 hours a month. He said that pilots were not "reporting to duty as scheduled."
Blahoski said he could not predict when cancellations would end, but said pilot hours would reset Wednesday, which is Aug. 1.
He said Northwest continues to work on solutions. After making the 3% reduction in flights in July, the airline will reduce the schedule an additional 1% in August, Blahoski said.
The airline also has been trying to notify fliers of cancellations further in advance.
Union says more pilots needed
Air Line Pilots Association spokesman Monty Montgomery said it was unfair to blame the cancellations on pilot absenteeism.
"We told them we had staffing issues months ago," he said. "The pilots have absolutely no plan to try to disrupt flights at Northwest."
Montgomery said that if pilots are getting sick, it's because they are overworked. He added that reserve pilots should be available to fly for pilots who call in sick.
But, he said, "My understanding is that reserve pilots have reached maximums before the end of the month. That is due to insufficient staffing. At some point the management of the company has to take some responsibility for this issue."
Montgomery said the airline met with pilots last week to talk about possible solutions. He would not elaborate except to say that pilots believe the airline must hire more pilots.
"And they need to start working with employees and stop trying to blame employees for problems," he said.
Trippler said he was unsure whether the weekend's cancellations would have a major impact on the airline.
"You can only go to the well so many times," he said.
"Their public relations approach on this has been abysmal."
He added that this is a black eye for the airline at a time when it needs to look good if it hopes to win government approval for the Detroit-China routes it is seeking.
"Pilots, at 90 hours, are tired and fatigued," Trippler said. "The public's support is with the pilots. August should tell the story and whether major changes need to be made at Northwest Airlines."
Northwest Airlines' pattern of cancellations continued Sunday, with more than 200 flights dropped as pilots who were pushed to the limit of hours they are allowed to fly each month stayed home from work.
The airline blamed the pilots, who in turn blamed the airline for failing to address staff shortfalls after it canceled more than 2,000 flights in June, many of them toward the end of the month.
Passengers suffered again Sunday, especially at Detroit Metro Airport.
"It's their own internal problem but they just pass it on to you," said Joe Czarnecki, who was trying to fly to New York with his wife after attending a wedding in Detroit.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Detroit | Northwest | August | Terry Trippler | Roman Blahoski | Monty Montgomery
The Czarneckis learned through a voice mail that their flight home was canceled and that they were rescheduled on a flight today. Because that would force them to miss work, the couple bought two $500 tickets with Continental for a Sunday flight, only to find out that flight was grounded, too, because of bad weather in the East.
The couple said Northwest's customer service kept disconnecting them because of the high call volume.
"They give you a recording because they don't have any guts," Joe Czarnecki said.
A bad weekend for travelers
Northwest, Metro Airport's largest carrier, canceled 514 flights nationwide Friday through Sunday evening. On Sunday, Metro Airport had 49 of the cancellations by 6 p.m., the most of any city, according to flightstats.com. The website collects travel data from sources that include airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control reports.
Northwest, which emerged from bankruptcy reorganization at the end of May, also canceled large numbers of flights in late June, when the pilot issue first came to light. The airline first blamed the weather but later said pilot absenteeism was the problem. Pilots say they are overworked and are flying the maximum 90 hours per month that their contract allows.
The FAA sets the monthly maximum at 100. But if pilots flew 100 hours a month year-round, they would surpass the 1,000 hours of annual flight time the FAA allows.
Northwest canceled 2,376 flights in June and had reached 1,711 cancellations in July by Sunday evening on a schedule that it reduced by 3% after last month's troubles.
Airline analyst Terry Trippler said the cancellations are hurting Northwest's image.
"Many people are asking whether Northwest is dysfunctional," Trippler said. "August should be much better, and if it isn't, Northwest has some serious problems."
Trippler said the airline plans its schedules a month in advance and couldn't do much about July by the time trouble became apparent in June.
NWA calls it absenteeism
Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski blamed pilots, citing a memo from CEO Officer Doug Steenland that went out to employees Friday afternoon.
The memo alerted them of upcoming cancellations and procedures for accommodating stranded travelers.
"It stated that beginning Friday morning we noticed a spike in narrow-body pilot absenteeism," Blahoski said, referring to pilots who fly DC9, A319, A320 and 757 aircraft.
"That is forcing us to cancel flights," Blahoski said Sunday. "We first noticed it Friday morning and it continued yesterday."
Blahoski said pilots were not being asked to fly more than 90 hours a month. He said that pilots were not "reporting to duty as scheduled."
Blahoski said he could not predict when cancellations would end, but said pilot hours would reset Wednesday, which is Aug. 1.
He said Northwest continues to work on solutions. After making the 3% reduction in flights in July, the airline will reduce the schedule an additional 1% in August, Blahoski said.
The airline also has been trying to notify fliers of cancellations further in advance.
Union says more pilots needed
Air Line Pilots Association spokesman Monty Montgomery said it was unfair to blame the cancellations on pilot absenteeism.
"We told them we had staffing issues months ago," he said. "The pilots have absolutely no plan to try to disrupt flights at Northwest."
Montgomery said that if pilots are getting sick, it's because they are overworked. He added that reserve pilots should be available to fly for pilots who call in sick.
But, he said, "My understanding is that reserve pilots have reached maximums before the end of the month. That is due to insufficient staffing. At some point the management of the company has to take some responsibility for this issue."
Montgomery said the airline met with pilots last week to talk about possible solutions. He would not elaborate except to say that pilots believe the airline must hire more pilots.
"And they need to start working with employees and stop trying to blame employees for problems," he said.
Trippler said he was unsure whether the weekend's cancellations would have a major impact on the airline.
"You can only go to the well so many times," he said.
"Their public relations approach on this has been abysmal."
He added that this is a black eye for the airline at a time when it needs to look good if it hopes to win government approval for the Detroit-China routes it is seeking.
"Pilots, at 90 hours, are tired and fatigued," Trippler said. "The public's support is with the pilots. August should tell the story and whether major changes need to be made at Northwest Airlines."
