Some To Be Let Go Just Months After They Were Re-Hired

Northwest Airlines, looking for any way possible to slim down and regroup following its recent filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, announced last week it will lay off 1,400 flight attendants -- approximately one-sixth its current force -- by January 2006.

While such a move was expected, the announcement nevertheless surprised some NWA flight attendants who had finally been recalled from 9/11 furlough over the summer, according to media reports. The airline also had recently aired ads seeking applicants for flight attendant positions, although Northwest maintains the ads were in response to members of the flight attendants union who held a "sympathy strike" in support of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) strike that began in August.

The Professional Flight Attendants Association (PFAA) also claims Northwest is attempting to use non-union flight attendants on overseas flights, hired locally at the destinations of those flights, as another way to save money. According to the union, such a strategy could lead to the eventual outsourcing of flight attendant jobs to countries with cheaper labor costs.

When it filed for bankruptcy protection September 15, Northwest said it intended to furlough workers. Last week, the pilot's union announced as many as 400 Northwest pilots would be laid off over the next several months.

"These actions were necessary in order for NWA to build a competitive cost structure and a more effective business model," said a memo from Northwest to the flight attendants union, released last week after the furlough announcement.

Of the $1.4 billion in concessions Northwest is seeking from their workers, approximately $195 million is being asked from the flight attendants, according to the PFAA.

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