MESABA WORKERS BRACE FOR WORST: Many face uncertain future as airline seeks to cut costs

Employees: Pay cuts, layoffs and a strike possible

May 11, 2006

BY JEWEL GOPWANI
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Mesaba Airlines worker Nick Birchfield, 32, of Wayne sells furniture during a yard sale at his home last Thursday. Proceeds went to a union strike fund. Mesaba and its unions are to meet today with a bankruptcy judge, who could cancel Mesaba's contracts or give parties more time to talk. (PATRICIA BECK/Detroit Free Press)

FAST FACTS ON MESABA
• 84 flights a day out of Metro Airport
• 14 destinations from the airport
• 62,000 average number of passengers out of the airport a month

In three days last week, Nick Birchfield and his coworkers at Mesaba Airlines raised nearly $600 selling used cassette tapes, pots and pans, vintage furniture and more from his front yard in Wayne.

It was one way that 32-year-old Birchfield and other flight attendants tried to prepare for an uncertain future that could include a strike, pay cuts or layoffs.

Mesaba, which operates more than 80 flights a day at Metro Airport for Northwest Airlines, is reorganizing under bankruptcy protection. The company says it must cut wages and lay off workers, and it is seeking a judge's approval to do so.

If that happens, union workers say they'll strike, which they say would force Mesaba, based in Eagan, Minn., out of business. Fliers would lose trips to locations such as Marquette, Alpena and Cleveland.

Mesaba contends that a strike would be illegal and said that if one takes place, it will try to fight it in court. It's unknown whether the carrier has a contingency plan in place in case of a strike.

Northwest officials would not comment on a possible strike.

"We are communicating regularly with our Northwest Airlink partner Mesaba Airlines and are continuing to monitor the situation," spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said.

Mesaba workers are finding themselves in a situation similar to that of many others across Michigan who are facing drastic life changes as struggling employers such as Northwest and Delphi Corp. try to slash labor costs to compete with younger, leaner competitors.

Mesaba and its unions are to meet today with a bankruptcy judge who could decide to give them all more time to negotiate cost-cutting contracts or to let the carrier impose lower wages for some 1,400 flight attendants, pilots and mechanics.

Meanwhile, Birchfield and others will prepare.

"We want to move on with our lives, but we can't," said Birchfield, a local union leader who raised the money for a strike fund in case some flight attendants walk off the job in coming months.

Mesaba, citing pressure from Northwest to cut its fleet by half, wants workers -- from management levels to union ranks -- to take 19.4% cuts in their benefits and wages. That would trim $17.1 million a year from its labor costs, including $10 million from its union workers.

Mesaba's fleet has shrunk from the 100 planes it had before it filed for bankruptcy in October to 71. The airline expects to lose another 20 planes by November.

Mesaba said it needs to not only adapt to having fewer planes, but to lower its costs enough to maintain -- and potentially win -- new business from Northwest.

Talks have stalled between Mesaba and its flight attendants and mechanics, leaders for both unions said Wednesday.

The pilots union said that recent talks "have been positive, but are very preliminary." Union leaders for the pilots expect Mesaba to ask for more time to negotiate.

In the airline industry, unions and carriers tend to negotiate contracts before a judge must make a decision about canceling contracts.

Tom Wychor, who leads the Mesaba unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, stressed that he wants to negotiate a deal with Mesaba. But he also said this is not a typical bankruptcy case.

"Over half of our pilots -- they know if the company's business plan goes into effect, they will be furloughed," Wychor said. "There is no fat in our contract that we can cut out. That puts our employees in a much more desperate situation."

In bankruptcy, Mesaba is on a path similar to that of its only customer, Northwest Airlines, other major carriers including Delta Air Lines and Troy-based auto supplier Delphi. All have demanded double-digit pay cuts and asked for the court's permission to impose those cuts.

Away from the bargaining table, unions have set up strike centers to field calls from workers if the airline implements new terms.

Meanwhile, workers are preparing for their lives to change.

Flight attendants are selling items on eBay and planning pasta dinners to raise money for attendants who could be suspended or fired if the union starts random strikes, giving a handful of flight attendants instructions to walk out.

Alexander Parr, a 30-year-old Mesaba flight attendant from Clinton Township who unloaded hundreds of cassette and VHS tapes at Birchfield's yard sale, said he's shopping for health insurance and looking for a part-time job to supplement his income. Last year, Parr made $24,000 before taxes, flying an average of 75 hours a month.

Linda Lake, 50, of Romulus said she cut out cable television and her phone landline to save money. Lake plans to move out of her apartment and in with her mother in Lapeer.

She said she's preparing to retire if she loses her job at Mesaba.

"Fifty-year-old people don't get hired easily," Lake said. "It's too late to try to start a new career."

Contact JEWEL GOPWANI at 313-223-4550 or gopwani@freepress.com.