NWA CEO makes pitch for more labor cuts
02-24-2005, 09:20 AM
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NWA CEO makes pitch for more labor cuts
Thu, Feb. 24, 2005
Northwest CEO makes a pitch for more pay cuts
Northwest Airlines CEO Doug Steenland told employees this week that the airline now pays some of its workers as much as 24 percent more than their peers get at United Airlines. Steenland said the disparity "makes our costs uneconomic in the short run and unsustainable, long term." Given its route overlap with Eagan-based Northwest, United is considered Northwest's main competitor. Steenland noted that United pilots and flight attendants have ratified new labor savings agreements, and that United, which is in bankruptcy, also has temporary, court-imposed wage cuts with some of its unions. "This is an example of what can happen in Chapter 11," Steenland said. "And United continues its efforts to terminate its defined benefit pension plans." Northwest has been seeking nearly $1 billion in employee compensation cuts for more than two years. The carrier is less than a third of the way toward that target and it has signaled that it will be raising its cost-cutting goal.
Northwest CEO makes a pitch for more pay cuts
Northwest Airlines CEO Doug Steenland told employees this week that the airline now pays some of its workers as much as 24 percent more than their peers get at United Airlines. Steenland said the disparity "makes our costs uneconomic in the short run and unsustainable, long term." Given its route overlap with Eagan-based Northwest, United is considered Northwest's main competitor. Steenland noted that United pilots and flight attendants have ratified new labor savings agreements, and that United, which is in bankruptcy, also has temporary, court-imposed wage cuts with some of its unions. "This is an example of what can happen in Chapter 11," Steenland said. "And United continues its efforts to terminate its defined benefit pension plans." Northwest has been seeking nearly $1 billion in employee compensation cuts for more than two years. The carrier is less than a third of the way toward that target and it has signaled that it will be raising its cost-cutting goal.
