Saturday, July 28, 2007


Jul. 28, 2007 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Northwest Airlines said Friday afternoon that it was canceling 7 percent of its flights for the day, and it warned passengers that cancellations would continue to be a problem over the weekend.

The airline didn't say how many flights will be dropped from the schedule today and Sunday.

The late-month spike in cancellations marks a repeat of the troubles Northwest experienced in June, when the carrier had major disruptions to its flights for a week. The airline cited three factors last month for cancellations -- a high number of sick pilots, weather and air traffic congestion.

Northwest said then that it would trim its schedule to avoid a repeat of the problems.

But the airline now finds itself headed into another summer travel weekend with cancellations running well ahead of the 1 to 2 percent that is normal on good-weather days.

By 7:30 p.m. Friday, FlightStats, a private company, was reporting that Northwest had canceled 114 of its 1,458 flights for the day, or 7.8 percent.

Opposing viewpoints

As was the case in June, management and pilots have different views concerning the causes for the latest service letdown.

In a letter to employees Friday, CEO Doug Steenland said the airline saw a 'significant spike' Friday morning in 'pilot absenteeism,' forcing the carrier to cancel flights. The sick calls from pilots affected 'narrow body' planes, such as DC9s and A319s and A320s, which are used on domestic routes, Steenland wrote.

Monty Montgomery, a spokesman for the Northwest branch of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), responded that the pilots are not at fault.

'There is absolutely no effort by the pilots to disrupt the flying schedule of Northwest,' Montgomery said.

'Unfortunately, there is not sufficient pilot staffing,' he added.

'Our pilots have been working at their personal and contractual limits for months now, and it is starting to take its toll on them personally and on the schedule overall.'

Last year, Northwest pilots agreed to a new contract while the airline was in bankruptcy. The contract increased maximum flight hours for pilots from 80 to 90 hours per month.

In June, the airline canceled 11.9 percent of its schedule from June 22-28, amounting to roughly 1,200 flights. The major disruptions began just a week after pilots union leaders warned that the airline had too few pilots to fly a full schedule.

Northwest said Friday that it completed 97.9 percent of its flights from July 1-25.

But union leaders and industry observers had predicted that the carrier could encounter problems again in late July and be forced to cancel more flights.

That's because a number of pilots reach their maximum allowed flight hours by the end of the month, so management has a limited supply of pilots to deploy.

In his letter, Steenland acknowledged that the airline has not resolved its cancellation woes.

'The unfortunate reality is that a problem such as this cannot be solved overnight,' Steenland said. 'The steps we are taking -- schedule reductions, new pilot training, changes in pilot bidding patterns and other remedial measures -- take time to implement.'

The airline will cut its domestic flight schedule by 4 percent in August. That's after it eliminated a Detroit-to-Frankfurt, Germany, flight July 18 to free up some pilot crews.

Northwest also is recalling its remaining pilots on furlough, and it plans to hire about 300 pilots over the next 12 months. Management told employees Thursday that training for new pilots would 'start as early as the beginning of October.'

The union's Montgomery said that he has concerns about the company's ability to fly a full schedule through the end of the month. He also emphasized that pilot leaders told Northwest management on several occasions in recent months that more pilots were needed for the heavy summer season.

By not expanding the pilot workforce ahead of summer, Montgomery said the airline is seeing more instances of sick pilots who have 'cumulative fatigue.'

John Prater, ALPA International president, said in an interview this month that Northwest management should sit down with pilot leaders and find ways to meet the pilots' financial and work rule needs. Prater argued that a healthier labor-management relationship would be good for the airline.

Another tack

'Northwest would do better by addressing the bankruptcy-era contract and improving that contract for the current pilots,' he said, rather than 'trying to make the financial case of low wages as being some type of elixir to provide long-term profits.'

In an update to pilots Friday, union leaders said that three work rule changes that management agreed to weeks ago have had a 'positive impact,' but that executives must be willing to negotiate a 'much larger overall solution.'

Northwest's financial condition will be analyzed Tuesday, when it reports results for the second quarter.

Julius Maldutis, president of New York-based Aviation Dynamics, said Northwest executives likely will face an array of questions from Wall Street analysts and reporters about the carrier's operations.

'These cancellations are obviously going to have a significant impact, especially as business travelers cannot tolerate and accept cancellations,' Maldutis said.

Northwest has been preemptively canceling many flights affected by the pilot staffing issue. The airline notifies customers of cancellations and flight rebookings by phone, e-mail or mobile devices. Passengers can check the status of flights at www.nwa.com, or by calling 1-800-441-1818.

'Customers whose weekend flights have been affected have most likely been contacted by Northwest regarding alternative travel plans,' spokesman Roman Blahoski said.

Liz Fedor --612-673-7709 -- lfedor@startribune.com


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