Pressure on NWA pilots for 70 seaters

[Jimdandy]

http://www.startribune.com

On the second page of this article it states that NWA isn't going to replace the flying with regional flying at least not yet.

Is this pressure to get Pilots to release some scope for a Jet for Jobs deal?

In other words you give us some 70 seaters and we will put some furlough brothers back on-line all-be-it at a different company but at least they will have work. If you don't we will be forced to get an a$$ load of 44 seaters which means we will be less competitive especially in the future.

NWA Mgmt they are brutal negotiators. Good luck to NWA pilots lets hope oil goes down soon.

 

[Jimdandy]

Last update: March 16, 2005 at 9:52 PM
NWA to pare fleet, cut up to 900 jobs
Liz Fedor, Star Tribune
March 17, 2005 NWA0317
Page: 1 2


Northwest Airlines, facing a lethal combination of persistently high fuel prices and stubbornly low fares, will reduce its fleet by 30 airplanes in 2005 and slash up to 900 high-paying mechanics jobs from its Minnesota payroll.

For airline workers, passengers and investors, the retiring of planes and a new round of job cuts are fresh reminders that the steep, four-year decline in the fortunes of large airlines shows no signs of lifting, even as Northwest and other airline executives win wage reductions from some or all of their employees.

"Just when you think you've hit bottom, they pull it out from underneath you again," said Jeff Mathews, contract coordinator with the mechanics union, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).

Northwest had 451 planes in its fleet at the end of 2004. Most, if not all, of the 30 that will be parked are DC-9s, which have an average age of 33.8 years and which seat between 78 and 125 passengers. On Monday, Northwest said it would freeze the number of domestic seat miles it will fly this year at 2004 levels.

A NWA DC-9It blamed a glut of seats in the U.S. aviation market.

It's unclear how Twin Cities passengers will be affected by Northwest's decision to take some planes out of service, but a company spokesman said the airline expects to reduce the frequency of flights on some routes.

The Eagan-based carrier said Wednesday that it will shut down a DC-9 heavy-maintenance check line in the Twin Cities and not bring back six planes that had been scheduled to fly this year. The immediate impact: 130 mechanic jobs will be cut. Notices will go out in the next couple of weeks, and mechanics could use their seniority to take jobs elsewhere in the Northwest system -- displacing less senior workers in the process -- or simply accept a layoff and leave the Northwest payroll.

Another dozen AMFA members who work in a Twin Cities composite shop also will be given notices, because they support the heavy maintenance work.

Before the 2001 terrorist attacks, AMFA represented about 5,300 Northwest workers in the Twin Cities. That number has fallen to about 3,150, according to Ted Ludwig, president of AMFA Local 33 in Bloomington.

"I was here when we had the Iraq war layoffs when 1,683 guys got their pink slips in one day," Ludwig said. "This is just something that we've grown accustomed to and we will deal with it one day at a time as it comes."

Northwest said Wednesday that it will take another 24 planes out of service, but it declined to give a timetable for those changes.

"The first reduction will take place in June while additional aircraft will be phased out later this year," the Northwest pilots union said in a memo to pilots on Wednesday night.

"Because a large number of DC-9s are owned rather than leased, Northwest indicated it can realize a net savings by removing these aircraft from routes that are identified as unprofitable," the pilots union said.

Taking two dozen planes out of service will mean shedding an extra 700 to 800 mechanic jobs in the Twin Cities, where workers take planes apart, inspect them for cracks and wear, and rebuild them over the course of weeks. By eliminating so-called heavy maintenance work on its DC-9s, Northwest said it will close two of its maintenance lines operated by an outside vendor in Texas.

The worst-case scenario for the mechanics union is 930 job cuts this year.

But three other large Northwest unions -- the pilots, flight attendants and ground workers -- are not expecting job cuts.

Management does not expect to furlough any more Northwest pilots this year, according to the Northwest branch of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). But the company also does not expect to call more pilots back to work, and about 500 are still on furlough.

Bob Krabbe, an official with the Professional Flight Attendants Association (PFAA), said Northwest is not expected to furlough more flight attendants. Instead, he said, any changes in staffing levels will be managed through voluntary leaves

 

[Jimdandy]

NWA to pare fleet, cut up to 900 jobs
Continued from page 1
Page: 2


Union leader Steve Dunn said his union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), has been notified that job cuts for IAM ground workers are not planned.

However, the flight attendants, ground workers and mechanics unions all are in mediated contract negotiations with Northwest. Management is seeking at least $950 million per year in labor savings from its workers, and CEO Doug Steenland has said that target could go higher.

Some mechanics believe Northwest is trying to shift more of its domestic flying to regional partners such as Pinnacle Airlines, where pay levels are lower and planes are newer, and thus require less maintenance.

While the number of seat miles flown by Northwest pilots will be flat this year, Northwest projected that its flight capacity for regional carriers will increase by 32 to 34 percent.

"We are moving into the busiest part of the travel season. I don't know why we'd be reducing capacity," Ludwig said. "I believe they are moving these flights over to Pinnacle."

Northwest said it has not made a policy decision to shift a major portion of its flying to Pinnacle.

"The reduction in Northwest domestic capacity will currently not be offset by regional jet flying," Northwest spokesman Thomas Becher said.

Northwest is taking delivery of 22 regional jets this year that are headed to Pinnacle. The fleet will grow to 139 Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs) by September.

The CRJs, which seat 44 and 50 passengers, are being used to open up new markets -- such as Idaho Falls and El Paso, Texas -- that cannot support the number of seats on a mainline jet, Becher said.

On Northwest's flight schedule, Becher said, "We constantly mix and match aircraft to maximize financial results. We look at aircraft size and frequency and constantly make adjustments."

Joel Denney, an airline analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., said industry insiders have been waiting for some airlines to go out of business because of massive losses that have been posted over the past four years.

Instead, United Airlines, the nation's second-biggest carrier, and US Airways continue to languish in bankruptcy court. Delta Air Lines is once again warning that it might have to file for bankruptcy protection and Continental Airlines announced Tuesday that its employees must approve concessionary contracts by March 30 or it will insist on even deeper labor cuts.

Last year, Northwest lost $878 million, and it has lost about $2.5 billion on its operations over the past four years. Federal aid and the sale of some major assets helped lower its total net loss.

"You've got more capacity than the market can handle, which is why you are seeing Northwest holding back," Denney said. The airline is attempting to reduce losses and boost fares, he said. With fuel prices remaining at record levels, Denney said, there are no signs of significant improvement in the airline industry.

Northwest recognizes its passenger revenue is not at sustainable levels, he said, "so you have to take action."

AMFA leaders had been fearful that Northwest would phase out heavy maintenance jobs in the Twin Cities, because the airline plans to tear down an airport hangar to make way for more gates.

Ludwig and other union members have urged members of the Minnesota Legislature and Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) to block the further loss of mechanic jobs.

But the MAC and Gov. Tim Pawlenty have shown strong support for Northwest's airport expansion plan, and the Legislature has not inserted itself into the airline's labor-management relations.

Liz Fedor is at

 

[drag]

Better yet, lets hope oil continues to go up. Let the weed out begin. I dream of the day when the desert is full of RJ's.

 

[General Lee]

You are probably going to get 70 and 90 seaters anyway, so I say negotiate for them. Give some of your furloughs the option to fly them in the left seat. AA, CAL and USAir did it.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[320AV8R]

We'll give up the 70 seat flying, only if Management promises to give us another pay cut

320AV8R

 

[cathal]

I hope whatever's coming benefits most (all) and harms few (none). Only hindsight will tell.

 

[avrodriverj85]

You are probably going to get 70 and 90 seaters anyway, so I say negotiate for them. Give some of your furloughs the option to fly them in the left seat. AA, CAL and USAir did it.



General Lee,

Why the left seat and not the right? What about the F/O who's been sitting in the right seat for 6+ years, paying ALPA dues? A 5 year DC9 F/O get's the left seat before him? I don't think so ! What happened to seniority?

You mainline guys are unbelievable. Entitlements Entitlements. Suck it up and ride the storm just like the rest of us. You took the risk by going to mainline, now ride it out and quit complaining, or get into another field of work. You bitch about management ruining your careers and taking your jobs away, but you want to do the same thing to the regional ranks when things don't go your way.

 

[canyonblue]

With what we have playing out at Airways, it can't be said anymore that the Mainline supports the Regional, it may also be the other way around. You can't have one without the other, and vice versa.

 

[xjhawk]

Right now, everything is just rumors. I cannot believe some people actually want airlines like US Airways to go out of business! What are you thinking? Do you realize that those people are just trying to have a job and a career too? I do not want to see Anyone at NOrthwest lose their job, or Northwest lose airplanes. I cannot respect Management for some or most of their business practices. How can you take bonus's while asking workers to take wage cuts? How can you cut ticket prices and take a loss while fuel prices continue to rize? How can you try and put another airline out of business while the tax payers are funding those bankrupt airlines? How is that legal or ethical? My point being, if i have one, do not hate other pilots or say bad things about us, just because we are stuck at a regional airline.Some of us hope that there is a future at mainline, but the fact id, in order for northwest to be competetive in the future, is to operate the 70-90 seat planes at the regional level. If everyother airline is flying them at the regional level, then Northwest must do the same. The other problem, is the lack of leadership at alpa to provide true leadership. To solidify the pilots, instead of allowing what is now happening in the industry. I still cannot believe that someone who is a wing walker at northwest makes over twice what i make! Maybe if more mainline ALPA pilots would think of Us regional pilots as more than "just " regional pilots. how can our union have dual representation? Anyway.......what was my point? Good luck to all, i hope we all make something out of our careers.