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Friday, Aug. 28, 1998
Travelers shift flights ahead of Northwest strike
Pilots, airline offer no progress report as deadline nears
By KARREN MILLS
Associated PressMINNEAPOLIS -- Wary travelers rearranged their plans Thursday as Northwest Airlines and its pilots worked to avert a weekend strike that would shut down the airline and its regional feeders.
Ashley Davies of Minneapolis was switching her flight from Friday to Thursday because she had to get to Washington, D.C., for the start of her year at American University.
``I didn't want to be taking a train. That would take 31 hours,'' she said before boarding the plane.
But with weeks of warning leading up to the pilots' strike deadline of 11:01 p.m. CDT Friday, most passengers had already made other arrangements and the Northwest airports hubs were eerily quiet.
``It's usually much busier here,'' said Jean Brown, a volunteer who staffs the information booth at the Minneapolis airport across from the bank of Northwest ticket counters.
For at least part of Thursday afternoon, the longest line for a Northwest agent was never more than four people deep. Passengers often nearly fill a snaking rope line leading to the ticket counter.
Northwest and its pilots were negotiating issues of pay, job security, retirement and work rules for a new contract. Both sides are under a self-imposed news blackout on the status of the talks and would say no more than that talks continued.
``We're still not characterizing them in any way,'' airline spokeswoman Marta Laughlin said. ``We're still hopeful we can reach an agreement.''
Last year, when the pilots at American Airline went on strike, President Clinton acted within minutes to intervene, but administration officials say it is unlikely he will do the same thing for Northwest.
Clinton would need the recommendation of the National Mediation Board to take this rarely-used step, which would allow him to order a 60-day cooling off period if there is ``a substantial economic threat.''
But American is the nation's third-largest passenger airline, ferrying 81 million passengers a year, while Northwest is the sixth largest, carrying 54.6 million. In addition, Northwest's routes tend to be more regionally concentrated.
Northwest has already canceled 400 flights on Friday and Saturday that were to have carried 25,000 passengers, a move criticized by the Air Line Pilots Association.
``There's plenty of time to reach a negotiated settlement if Northwest management will focus on the task at hand: reaching a fair and equitable agreement with its pilots,'' said Capt. Steve Zoller, chairman of the NWA pilots' union. ``It's unfortunate that management has already taken steps to inconvenience passengers.''
Other travelers kept to their itinerary but made contingency plans since Northwest's competitors have said they have very few seats available to offer stranded travelers.
Eric Jaakkola, his wife and two friends were flying Thursday from Minneapolis to Kansas City, Mo., with plans to return Sunday.
Jaakkola didn't expect a strike, but he said he reserved a car in Kansas City just in case he had to drive the 450 miles to get home.
``We'll get home one way or another, and we're not walking,'' Jaakkola said.Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web