Fliers Looking for NWA Alternatives

For some travelers, it hasn't taken a judge's ruling to get them to change their flight plans.

As strike talk has intensified among pilots at Northwest Airlines, some have responded by steering clear of the Eagan-based carrier or making sure they have a Plan B.

Minnesota vacationers al-ready have booked seats on alternative carriers or have delayed travel decisions. And while most companies aren't changing how they book flights, some have begun requiring employees to make back-up bookings.

Susan and Phillip Little of Edina ditched Northwest a week ago for Champion Air for their coming trip to Mexico, which will involve seven family members.

"We already paid for this condo for two weeks, and we had to get there," said Susan Little, who paid $50 to cancel two frequent-flier tickets and paid $600 apiece for new tickets at worse travel times.

Local travel agents said they're fielding more questions from travelers. Agents still book travel on Northwest, but they're advising consumers to pay for tickets with major credit cards, which permits them to dispute charges for services not received.

"Customers are confused," said Dawn Duffy, a spokeswoman for AAA Minneapolis. "We're explaining the options and letting customers make up their own minds."

Northwest travelers have dealt with uncertainty and disruption since the airline's mechanics went on strike in August. Northwest kept flying, though it had a spike in canceled and late flights during the early days of the walkout. In September came the airline's bankruptcy, with an escalation of strike talk since then as the airline wrestled with its major unions for additional pay and benefit cuts.

Some leisure and business travelers note difficulty in avoiding travel on Northwest — the dominant and most convenient airline in Minnesota. Northwest serves nearly two-thirds of passengers flying in and out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Dan Kleinberger, a law professor at the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, is flying Northwest to Florida for a meeting next month. But he hasn't yet decided how he'll get to a conference in Lake Tahoe in May.

"It's still far enough out that I'm hopeful something will be worked out," Kleinberger said. "If it doesn't work out … I can find another way to get where I need to be."

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