Northwest Airlines Corp.'s mechanics walked off the job Friday night in the first major U.S. airline strike in seven years, but the nation's fourth-largest carrier vowed to keep flying its full schedule with replacement workers.
The strike was called at 9:01 p.m. PDT by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn., the union for 4,400 mechanics, aircraft cleaners and other ground workers at Northwest.
There were indications that the strike might already be having some impact on Northwest's schedule.
According to the airline's website, several late-evening flights out of its hubs at Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit were delayed -- some for several hours -- for maintenance-related reasons. The red-eye flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Detroit was scheduled to leave on time -- but some passengers were concerned about the return trip.
"I'm nervous about getting back home," said Kathie Gold, a 46-year-old Mission Viejo school teacher, as she waited with her son and daughter for the Detroit flight.
The walkout occurred as both sides remained far apart on the airline's demand for concessions. Northwest -- facing an imminent threat of bankruptcy after years of massive losses -- wants to eliminate about half of its AMFA jobs as part of its goal of slashing labor expenses.
The gulf between them was so wide that the strike was not unexpected. Indeed, Northwest had spent more than a year making preparations for a walkout, hiring about 1,200 replacement workers, assigning more than 300 managers to supervise aircraft maintenance and lining up outside vendors to handle the heavy work on its planes and engines.
Citing those plans, AMFA National Director O.V. DelleFemine called the negotiations with Northwest "an arrogant farce with a predetermined ending."
"Northwest wanted a strike, and now they have one," he said in a statement Friday night. "We apologize in advance to the flying public for the inconvenience and disruption the strike will cause."
But Northwest Chief Executive Douglas Steenland said: "We intend to operate our normal schedule." The airline also "remains in full compliance" with federal safety regulations, he said in a statement.
The Eagan, Minn.-based airline, which carries an average of 150,700 passengers daily on 1,500 flights, is so confident it can maintain service that it is not offering refunds or waiving change-of-flight penalties for passengers holding nonrefundable tickets.
