No Progress Seen in Airline Talks

Officials of Northwest Airlines and its striking pilots’ union met with a federal mediator at a Rosemont, Ill., hotel in an attempt to jump-start negotiations concerning compensation and job security. But the talks weren’t expected to result in much beyond a date for more talks: The chasm dividing the two sides is about $180 million per year. Northwest canceled all flights through Tuesday and all incoming flights from Europe and Asia through Wednesday. Meanwhile, AirTran reached tentative agreement in Atlanta on a contract with its 500 flight attendants, who had been without a contract since they organized three years ago as employees of what was then ValuJet Airlines.