Northwest flight attendants gather to prepare for CHAOS™

CHAOS: Create Havoc Around Our System. That’s what Northwest Airlines flight attendants will gather to gear up for over the coming days.

Flight attendants belonging to the carrier’s Association of Flight Attendants union gather on August 4 in Detroit (DTW), Memphis (MEM), San Francisco (SFO), Boston (BOS) and Honolulu (HNL) to get details about possible work actions against their airline. They’ll get together on August 6 in Los Angeles (LAX), and on August 7 at Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP), and New York LaGuardia (LGA).

Last Monday (July 31) Northwest flight attendants rejected a second tentative agreement with the Chapter 11 carrier. Then, Northwest imposed its own work rules – calling for significant pay and benefit cuts. That, says the union, triggered the flight attendants’ right to strike under the Railway Labor Act.

Northwest is going to court to stop any planned walkouts.

The union says CHAOS could hit Northwest’s worldwide route network as early as August 15. Random, unannounced strikes could result.

Why the move towards CHAOS? “These drastic cuts to our pay, benefits and work rules are simply unacceptable,” says Mollie Reiley, the union’s Interim Master Executive Council President.

While Northwest has already weathered a strike by mechanics, some industry observers believe it could have a harder time dealing with a walkout by flight attendants.

© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler

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