Northwest, union reach accord

Northwest Airlines Corp. agreed Thursday on $195 million in pay and benefit cuts with its flight attendants, averting a potential strike by the only major union that hasn’t accepted the carrier’s efforts to pare labor costs as it prepares to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA leaders were deciding whether to send the pact to the 9,300 members for a vote, union spokeswoman Karen Schultz said. The accord was reached after a week of bargaining. Northwest spokesman Dean Breest confirmed the agreement.

The union said it would get a $182-million bankruptcy claim -- equal to an estimated $15,000 to $18,000 per employee -- if the proposal was approved. Neither side would give details on how pay and benefits would be cut. The attendants rejected two earlier agreements reached by negotiators.

“There were previous attempts that came very close to ratification,” said Robert Mann of Port Washington, N.Y., a consultant for airlines and unions. “Tweaking the deal to secure another few points of acceptance shouldn’t have been too hard.”

Northwest plans to emerge from Bankruptcy Court protection in June. The concessions are part of $1.4 billion that the Eagan, Minn.-based carrier has carved from annual labor spending while operating under Chapter 11. The tentative accord won’t affect its exit from bankruptcy, the airline said.

Northwest won court permission in July to impose wage and benefit cuts on the attendants, its only union to not accept a concession agreement.

The two sides negotiated sporadically after that ruling, and the union in March lost an appeal of a court decision that it could not strike because of imposed reductions.

Shares of Northwest sank 4 cents Thursday to 35 cents.