What Do I Do If Nwa Pilots Strike?

[fdog]

NWA and the Pilot's Union have come to a temporary agreement, pending ratification by the Union's BOD.

No strike.

All the best, James

 

[OWSIinAustin]

50% paycut over the past couple of years. The poor FO's

 

[DandyDon]

50% paycut over the past couple of years. The poor FO's

Well....excerpting

The pilots, who are paid $60,000 to $160,000 a year, had the ability to shut down the airline with a strike, an event that both sides agreed could be fatal to Northwest.

Pilots' past sacrifices

The pilots had made substantial sacrifices going into the talks. In late 2004, the pilots took 15 percent pay cuts, which have saved the airline $250 million a year. In mid-November, pilots accepted an additional temporary pay cut of about 24 percent. Many pilots, who were flying smaller aircraft after Northwest's downsizing, have lost 50 percent or more of their pay, with some forced to sell their houses. The pilots also agreed several weeks ago to the freezing of their defined-benefit pension plan.

For family budgets to be cut by half, selling homes - pretty rough...

When the two sides didn't meet Gropper's deadline, Northwest had the legal right to impose a new contract. Instead, it kept its negotiators at the bargaining table.

At that stage, Trippler said, each side was holding a "nuclear card." Northwest could have used the bankruptcy law to force the pilots to work under a contract they found unacceptable. And the pilots could have responded with a strike, which could have led to an ugly court battle over the legality of that move.

Neither side played the nuclear card.

I've never flown NWA, but I'm glad they saved it.

 

[SubNavigator]

Made it back tonight! Great flight, left late due to Cozumel Asur gate problems, or maybe it was too many airplanes and only one fuel truck.....

Great trip too, I'll talk about it in a new thread tomorrow..