Northwest mechanics closer to strike

Mechanics at Northwest Airlines may strike as early as Saturday,but big problems aren't expected here if a walkout occurs.

"We anticipate that passengers who are impacted by any strike thatcould take place could probably find service . . . from othercarriers," said Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman KristenCabanban.

More than 5,100 mechanics, airplane cleaners and custodiansrepresented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association havethreatened to strike as early as Saturday at the financially troubledairline, which is seeking $176 million in annual concessions from theunion -- a roughly 25 percent cut -- and to slash 2,500 jobs.

The airline has 24 round-trip daily flights out of O'Hare Airport,accounting for less than 2 percent of flights and passengers,according to the airline and the city.

At Midway Airport, Northwest has 15 daily round-trip flights,accounting for 2.4 percent of flight operations and 3.6 percent ofpassenger traffic, Cabanban said.

Northwest flies to Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis from O'Hareand Midway. At O'Hare, American Airlines and United Airlines alsoservice those markets.

At Midway, no other airline provides service to Memphis, butSouthwest Airlines and ATA Airlines provide service to Detroit andMinneapolis, Cabanban said.

Northwest, the nation's fourth-largest airline with 1,500 dailydepartures, has 5,114 employees represented by AMFA, including 116 atO'Hare, said Northwest spokesman Scott Tennant.

He said the airline expects to be able to continue to fly its fullschedule if there is a strike. Northwest has roughly 1,500replacement mechanics and 300 to 350 managers trained to fill in if astrike occurs, he said.

Northwest has said it needs to reduce annual labor costs by $1.1billion as it works to avoid bankruptcy. It has won $300 million inwage and benefit cuts from pilots and managers and is in contracttalks with flight attendants and baggage handlers.

The airline resumed stalled talks with AMFA on Monday.

"It doesn't look like they're making great leaps in any areas,"AMFA spokesman Steve MacFarlane said Wednesday. "I'm not hopefulwe'll get a deal done."

An update posted on the union's Web site said: "While it appearswe are resolving language issues, we have not yet tentatively agreedto a complete article."

The wage and benefit cuts the airline is seeking aren't the mainstumbling blocks in talks, MacFarlane said.

"This isn't about money," he said. "This is about jobs, about ourjobs in the future . . . and about Northwest attempting to break theunion. Northwest has already eliminated 5,000 of our members' jobs.They want to eliminate another 2,500. That's 75 percent of our jobs.

". . .We're not opposed to giving concessions. We gave concessionsin 1983 and 1993."