The head of the nation's largest pilots union set up a potential legal showdown over Mesaba Airlines on Thursday, saying he'd prefer liquidation of the Northwest Airlines feeder over accepting a contract approved by a bankruptcy judge.
Air Line Pilots Association President Duane Woerth vowed a strike that could kill Mesaba if it imposes a new contract on pilots - even though a judge has given the airline permission to do so. And he said he won't sign a contract that includes similar terms, even if Mesaba's 730 active pilots approve it.
If Mesaba "wants to keep the company alive, they're going to have to meet my terms," he said.
Mesaba's parent, MAIR Holdings Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. Mesaba provides the only air service in many of the 98 cities it flies to, mostly in the Midwest. Its fleet once included about 100 planes, including some small jets, but Northwest is reducing it to 49 prop-driven Saabs that seat up to 34 passengers.
Woerth's threat was the strongest yet from any of the unions fighting Mesaba's demands for major pay cuts. Mesaba has said it needs the concessions if it is to keep flying for Northwest, its only customer.
Strike threats have been common from pilots and other unions at bankrupt airlines. But this was the first time in any of the recent bankruptcies that Woerth has inserted himself so directly into the negotiations between an airline and its pilots.
Woerth said that's because the pay cuts negotiated at airlines such as bankrupt United Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. left those pilots with enough to live on. At Mesaba, the union said a new first officer - the lowest-ranked, lowest-paid pilot at the airline - would make $16,417 a year under the company's proposal, down from $19,337 under the current contract.
"They know they can't live on this anyway," Woerth said. "And worse, they know what they'd be doing to their brother and sister pilots across the country." He said other regional carriers would aim for similar terms if Mesaba succeeds.
"If we don't fight it out here, we will never be safe in this industry. We might as well fight it out here," he said.
Mesaba has won permission from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gregory Kishel to impose a new contract on pilots, flight attendants and mechanics if it gives 10 days notice first. Mesaba has not started that clock ticking, and talks continued on Thursday.
A Mesaba spokesman did not return a phone message Thursday.
Flight attendants and mechanics have also raised the possibility of a strike.
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.
