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Northwest Flying Despite Strike

August 22, 2005
Wall Street is cheered by Northwest Airlines' managing to maintain its flight schedule despite a strike by mechanics. The troubled carrier's stock rose as analysts said flights were running normally out of Northwest's hubs at Detroit and Minneapolis.

Northwest Airlines • Ticketing snafus • Luggage lost, stolen, destroyed • General hostility • Disgruntled Employees • Northwest vs. KLM • Pray for food --- News • Delta, Northwest Merger Faces Heavy Chop • Troubled Northwest Strikes New Deal With Pilots • A Seething Summer of Discontent for Northwest Airlines • Northwest Passengers Face Uncertain Summer • Pilot Shortages Plague Northwest Passengers • Machinists Pact May Head Off Northwest Airline Strike • Northwest Hopes to Cancel Employee Contracts • Delta, Northwest File for Bankruptcy • Northwest Flying Despite Strike • Northwest Warns Of Bankruptcy • Strike Looms At Northwest • Northwest Seeks Replacement Flight Attendants • Northwest Pushes Up Fares

Whether normal is good enough for the long term is still to be decided, however. Northwest has acquired a reputation as an airline whose employees seem to hate its passengers and delight in tormenting them.

Employees have been even more hostile in the days leading up to the strike, travelers have reported.

Julie of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, broke her foot while vacationing in Washington, D.C., complained to ConsumerAffairs.com about the rude and openly hostile treatment she received from Northwest employees who refused to help her deal with gate changes while struggling with a wheelchair and crutches. A double amputee seated with her got even worse treatment, she said.

A passenger who asked about when a delayed flight would take off was told by a flight attendant that if he was in a hurry, he should hire a private jet.

When her delayed flight finally arrived in Madison, Julie said there were no skycaps available to help her. "I had to drag myself down the entire gateway, and down an escalator before my husband could reach me. The Northwest pilots and attendants walked right past me without a word," she said.

David, a U.S. State Department employee, was surprised to see a baggage worker purposely smashing luggage as he waited to deplane in Detroit. Two of the suitcases broken by the angry ramp worker turned out to be David's.

"I told the flight attendents what was happening. They were understanding but said they can't do anything," David said.

The nationwide strike by the carrier's Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents 4,200 mechanics, aircraft cleaners and building custodians, started Aug. 20 with picketing at 35 U.S. airports. Northwest had warned that the walkout could have forced it into bankruptcy. Pilots, bag handlers and flight attendants took the airline at its word and crossed the mechanics' picket lines.

Negotiations between the company and union broke down after five months, mainly over the airline's proposal to fire all 600 of its cleaners and custodians and to pare mechanic jobs to 2,350 from 3,600.

Northwest has lost $2.5 billion over the past four years. It is trying to cut annual labor expense by $1.1 billion, including $176 million from the mechanics. It has publicly said it is willing to spend as much as $107 million to keep its flights operating in the event of a strike by mechanics.

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