Over 63 Percent Of Pilots Voted For Deal 

Calling the agreement "a painful but necessary part of a successful restructuring of Northwest Airlines," ALPA Master Executive Council Chairman Mark McClain issued a statement Wednesday morning to announce that, by a 63 percent majority, pilots at Northwest have voted to ratify their new five-and-a-half year contract with the airline.

The Street.com reports the contract -- which will cut pilots' pay by 23.9 percent but will also insure that Northwest's mainline pilots will continue to fly aircraft with over 77 seats, staving off some concern about a new regional subsidiary -- is expected to cut the carrier's expenses by as much as $358 million annually. That's a significant step toward's Northwest's plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

Along with Delta Air Lines, Northwest filed for Chapter 11 protection last September. Delta's pilots are expected to vote on their own tentative deal in the next few weeks.

"Now is the time for Northwest pilots to unite and begin looking forward to our company's successful emergence from bankruptcy," McClain said. "Our goal in negotiations was to provide contract changes which addressed Northwest's needs, but also provided security for Northwest pilot jobs."

"Our negotiators did a remarkable job preventing Northwest management's excessive small-jet demands and retaining merger and fragmentation rights for Northwest pilots," added McClain, who last week successfully fought off a recall vote tied to union members' angst over pay and benefits cuts that some see as harsher than those pilots at Delta will have to face.

With the new contract, Northwest pilots will receive an unsecured $888 million claim against the airline, and will also participate in a profit-sharing plan once the company exits Chapter 11 protection.

The contract also limits the number of aircraft with 51 to 76 seats that Northwest's new regional subsidiary Compass can operate with outsourced pilots to 55 planes, or 90 if the planes are placed at an affiliate operation.

FMI: www.nwa.com, www.alpa.org