Union disputes NWA's reason for flight cancellations

Jun. 26--The Northwest Airlines pilots union said Monday that a pilot shortage is to blame for a recent flurry of cancellations that have stranded travelers on hundreds of flights nationwide.

The airline canceled 193 flights Sunday and 163 flights as of late Monday, according to the Airline Pilots Association and www.flightstats.com. The union said at least 450 cancellations have occurred since Saturday.

Northwest, meanwhile, blames the cancellations on weather, although several other airlines were not reporting similar problems.

"The recent severe weather events have caused Northwest Airlines to experience some crew shortages," Northwest spokesman Dean Breest said in a statement. "Northwest apologizes for any inconvenience incurred as the airline continues to recover from these recent weather events."

A Northwest official said that weather problems early this month caused Northwest pilots to log extra hours, which limits their current availability. Northwest wouldn't elaborate on the weather problems.

But Airline Pilots Association spokesman Monty Montgomery said the cancellations have nothing to do with weather. When pilots reach their limit on the number of hours they can fly, he said, the airline is forced to cancel flights when other crews aren't available.

"Our pilots are operating at contractual limits," Montgomery said.

"The summer flying season is in full swing, and we are operating at our max," he said, referring to the maximum number of hours pilots can fly per month, which is 90.

Metro Airport spokesman Michael Conway says the airport hasn't been aware of major cancellations due to inclement weather for any airline.

Continental Airlines spokeswoman Julie King said the airline has had no cancellations due to weather problems.

Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said the airline experienced some cancellations due to weather in the Northeast corridor last week.

"We had some spots here, some thunderstorms, but nothing major," Talton said.

Andrea Bogos, an account executive with Identity Marketing in Bingham Farms, said her nonstop flight to St. Louis for a business meeting was canceled Monday and rescheduled on a Delta flight with a stop in Cincinnati.

Her return today was also rescheduled for a later flight, she said. She was told that both flights were canceled due to crew issues, she said.

"I'm missing one day in the office, and this is the second time this happened," Bogos said, adding that this trip was rescheduled because her original flight on June 15 was also canceled. "I really couldn't let the client wait any longer."

While the pilots' labor contract sets the flying limit at 90 hours a month, the Federal Aviation Administration sets the maximum at 100, Montgomery said.

"Pilots are really going at their personal maximums," Montgomery said. "There's less willingness to pick up additional flights."

Montgomery said 396 pilots are on furlough and need to be retrained before they come back to work.

"In the short term, the problem is going to be exacerbated," Montgomery said. "Instructors need to be called back to retrain pilots."

But airline watchdog Terry Trippler, who is based in Minneapolis, said pilots are sending a message to Northwest management.

"They're upset with executive salaries and decisions that executives have made," Trippler said. "Northwest could not possibly have been short that number of crew members and you cannot blame this all on weather. Both sides are stretching the truth -- a lot.

"This is a slowdown," Trippler said. "Just when we thought this was over, here we go again."

The pilots union denied that the cancellations were due to a slowdown. Northwest wouldn't answer questions beyond its statement.

Tom Cioni, a Northwest flier from Green Bay, Wis., said his flight home from Detroit was canceled last weekend. He ended up flying to Madison and driving to Green Bay from there.

"The reason we were given was operational difficulties and unavailable crew," Cioni said. "I'm happy that Northwest emerged from bankruptcy, but this is disturbing that they can't keep their commitments."

Contact MARGARITA BAUZA at 313-222-6823 or [email protected]

To see more of the Detroit Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.freep.com Copyright (c) 2007, Detroit Free Press Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.