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Tuesday, Sep. 15, 1998
Off the picket line, back to the sky
Northwest already flying cargo; passenger flights resume Wednesday
By ASHLEY H. GRANT
Associated PressMINNEAPOLIS - Flight 101, a cargo plane bound for Tokyo, lumbered down a runway on Monday as Northwest Airlines returned to the skies for the first time since a pilots' strike grounded the nation's fourth-largest airline on Aug. 28.
Though passenger flights weren't expected to resume until Wednesday, travel agents were swamped with calls to confirm or book flights.
``The phones are driving us bonkers this morning,'' said Earl Rogers, owner of Duluth Travel, which relies on Northwest for booking flights. His office had taken more than 100 calls in two hours.
``It's happily driving us nuts,'' Rogers said.
On Saturday, the 6,200-member Air Line Pilots Association ratified a new four-year contract that includes a 12 percent raise over the life of the contract, job protections, stock options and profit-sharing.
Northwest was spending Monday getting employees back and preparing airplanes to fly again, spokesman Jon Austin said.
The airline plans to return its first 430 domestic flights to the skies on Wednesday. The first passenger flight was scheduled for 1 a.m. Wednesday from San Francisco to Minneapolis.
An additional 55 flights will be added on Thursday and 469 on Friday, including some international flights. Northwest expects to be up to full speed with all 1,700 daily flights by next Monday.
John Bergman, a baggage handler, was told he could begin work as early as Tuesday, but opted instead for Thursday morning. He had five days from the day he was recalled to return to work.
Members of other unions, including flight attendants belonging to the Teamsters union, had as long as 14 days to report back. But many of the 31,000 laid off, like Bergman's flight attendant wife, Kay, have decided to return sooner than that. Kay Bergman plans to be on the 9 a.m. flight to Omaha on Wednesday.
``What seems to be the general rule is most people are coming back quicker than they are contractually required to,'' Austin said. ``Most of them are quite anxious to get back to work.''
Northwest is offering customers bonus frequent flier miles through the end of October. First- and business-class passengers will receive triple miles; coach passengers will receive double.
``We want their business back and we'll be working hard on that,'' Austin said. He wouldn't say whether the airline would offer discount sales to woo customers back.
Even with bonus points, flight attendant Joel Frampton expects to encounter some unhappy customers during the first few days back in the air.
``That's fine,'' he said. ``That's what I've been trained for. I'm going to be very understanding. I don't look at it as my fault.''
Northwest's labor worries are not over. The company still has open contracts with its other five unions, and its largest - the International Association of Machinists, with 27,000 members - has rejected a tentative agreement and asked federal mediators to start a 30-day countdown to a possible strike.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