A discussion about the airline industry, airline employees, and all things related

Last week, the AFA defeated the Professional Flight Attendants Association in an election to decide which union would represent Northwest's some 9,100 active and laid-off flight attendants.

Northwest said Wednesday that it is focused on reaching a consensual agreement with its flight attendants.

'The company continues to believe that any job action would be illegal, and would take immediate action in the courts to prevent a job action from occurring,' said Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch.

The effort to educate flight attendants about the chaos strike strategy reflects the resolve of flight attendants to fight Northwest if it imposes a contract on them, said Danny Campbell, Northwest AFA-CWA interim vice president.

'This is not a reflection on the bargaining process,' he said. 'Just a reflection of the resolve of the flight attendants.'

Campbell said a chaos campaign involves a great deal of preparation and education.

'The strike action can only take place if the company abrogates the (labor) agreement,' Campbell said.

Northwest has court authority to impose a contract on the flight attendants Monday if it can't reach a negotiated settlement. But it's expected that talks will go past that deadline if progress is being made.

Interim wage cuts are providing Northwest with 60 percent of the savings it wants from flight attendants, and the airline already has negotiated or imposed new terms on its other employee unions. But until it gets a deal with the flight attendants, Northwest won't get the full benefits of givebacks bargained with those other unions.