NWA Woes...Again.

Again, more woes for Northwest Airlines.  Living in the Twin Cities I don't have a choice but to be concerned about NWA's imminent bankruptcy.  They have a nice strangle hold on the Sky's in this area although the latest expansion of the HHH Terminal has provided the upstarts with ample gates.  Unless you live under a rock you should know by now that the NWA mechanics union went on strike after refusing to give in to managements request for additional concessions. 

"Northwest has been trying to wrest $176 million of annual labor savings from its mechanics in an effort to cut overall labor expense by $1.1 billion and end four years of losses. The company, which is the only airline among the five biggest in the U.S. that hasn't won concessions from most of its unions, has secured $300 million in givebacks from pilots and managers and is still in talks with flight attendants and bag handlers."

This statement is not true.  Years ago all of the employees of NWA made concessions to management.  The problem is that the company never kept their end of the bargain made in those days and are now asking for additional cuts from the workforce.

Now I'm no fan of Unions.  They're corrupt organizations that feed on corporate America at the expense of shareholders.  They do next to nothing for the people they represent.  This strike goes to show that they would rather NWA went out of business than to give in to the airline.  I watched the news as one union official stated "we would rather NWA went out of business than give into any more concessions"...you may just have your wish.

There is an easy albeit high level (uninformed about the airline industry) answer to this.  Look at the examples of the low cost (new airline) carriers.  Build some of that model into your legacy business model over time.  Here's my solution:

1. Cut back you number of flights (use less fuel, less maintenance, etc.) Cost side of the equation.  If you're losing money flying certain routes, don't fly them.
2. Go from 7 different aircraft to 3 like you competition.  Fly 737 or 757 domestic, 777 to Europe (like partner Continental) and 747 long-haul.  (substitute these aircraft for Airbus version if you want, I don't care).  Sell of the rest of the fleet.  This will reduce maintenance costs significantly by cutting the number of maintenance workers you need.
3. Outsource major overhaul operations (like Southwest).  Spin off your maintenance facilities in Minneapolis and Detroit.  It alone could be a profitable business with all of the upstarts needing these services.
4. Improve the quality of your flight experience.  Until recently, I always flew NWA.  But my experience over the last few years with flight attendants and ground staff has left me wondering if NWA even cared about it's customers or if they simply look at us as cattle.  Fly AirTran or JetBlue, not to mention Singapore Airlines and you'll understand the difference.
5. Speaking of flight attendants.  Get rid of those old, crusty, mean flight attendants.  I'm not advocating ageism, but they act as though they are doing me a favor by my being on their flight.  Get some younger flight attendants that are excited about a new career in the Sky's, not some crusty old woman who's ass hits you in the head because her hips are so wide she has to go down the aisle sideways.  Didn't there used to be standards?
6. Leg room.  No further comment.

I obviously don't have all, or any of the answers.  However, the trickle down effect of not giving a shit is pretty apparent at NWA.  Management doesn't care about the workers, the workers don't care about the airline and the airline definitely doesn't care about its passengers.  In the end I why should we care with all of the new choices.  Pan-Am, Northeastern, TWA, Branniff, and now NWA...Good bye.

 

Comments

[dom]

I recently flew American Airways back from NC to the UK , the steward/esses were nearly all gay/camp men , they were a hoot !