The mechanics of airline job cuts
Terry Fiedler and H.J. Cummins, Star Tribune
March 17, 2005 MECHANICS0317
Joe Wagner, a 15-year veteran at Northwest Airlines, had a choice two years ago of taking a layoff from his airplane mechanic job or bumping a less senior person for a job working on trucks at the airport.
This time, his options aren't likely to include a job in the Twin Cities.
More than 140 mechanic jobs will be eliminated in April, and only 30 of Wagner's co-workers are below him in seniority. Northwest also says it likely will eliminate up to 900 mechanics positions altogether by the end of the year as it removes 30 older planes from its fleet.
"My wife and I talked about this for about three hours last night, to decide on a game plan," said Wagner, 40, who is married with two grown children and one still at home in Coon Rapids. "We decided for the time being to just play it by ear."
The past few years have been filled with hardship for Northwest Airlines and its employees, but no group of union workers has been hit harder than the mechanics represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).
While the ranks of pilots companywide was thinned by 19 percent between 2000 and 2004 and the number of flight attendants has gone down by 13 percent, the number of mechanic jobs has plunged 40 percent, from 9,300 to 5,600.
Locally, AMFA's membership has shrunk 42 percent to 3,100 in the past three years. All of those remaining members have 15 or more years of seniority, and most make about $70,000 a year.
Ted Ludwig, president of AMFA Local 33, said there is no question that mechanics have felt the effects of downsizing disproportionately.
Unlike pilots and baggage handlers, whose work is tied locally to the flights they service, many AMFA members work on heavy maintenance of planes, such as overhauls, that are done over long time periods.
Increasingly, that heavy maintenance is being outsourced to lower-paid workers in places such as Singapore. Ludwig said that by year's end some work that had been done locally will be shipped to El Salvador.
The union's contract with Northwest allows 38 percent of the heavy maintenance work to be outsourced. Ludwig said that the threshold has been met and may have been exceeded slightly.
He said that the union has fought the company and even public perception that paying veteran mechanics top dollar is somehow a luxury. Ludwig argues that it is a necessity for safety's sake. Union mechanics are certified by the FAA and are required by law to fix or report anything they see that is improper, even if they aren't working on those items specifically. Overseas mechanics, he said, have no allegiance to any particular airline or community and are under no legal requirement to address all problems.
AMFA contract administrator Jeff Mathews said that union members are being encouraged to relocate if necessary to keep their jobs, rather than viewing it as a straight layoff.
But it's hard not to get discouraged. Charles Slay, a mechanic who took early retirement last year, moved from Atlanta to the Twin Cities two years ago to keep his job. His wife didn't relocate, and he commuted.
"It's difficult to take up roots," he said. "When I moved to Minneapolis, I thought it would be secure because Minneapolis is home base, headquarters. But now it looks like a lot of people who came up there with me are facing another upheaval."
Wagner said he has been bumped 25 to 30 times in earlier layoffs and he knew of one mechanic who was bumped 120 times in his career. He thinks he can probably get a job with the company in another city, but thus far he has put a premium on staying with his family in the Twin Cities.
Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., said that for those who are actually laid off there is a big difference between now and layoffs of 10 or 20 years ago.
"They used to mean that you'd get your job back after a period of time, because of a model change or seasonal layoffs," Chaison said. "But increasingly these layoffs are downsizings. You're not necessarily going to return to your old job, because it won't be there."
Moving on to something else may also be tough. "The mechanics are going to have a very difficult time," he said. "Their skills are not directly transferable, and they're working in an industry in very difficult times."
Terry Fiedler and H.J. Cummins, Star Tribune
March 17, 2005 MECHANICS0317
Joe Wagner, a 15-year veteran at Northwest Airlines, had a choice two years ago of taking a layoff from his airplane mechanic job or bumping a less senior person for a job working on trucks at the airport.
This time, his options aren't likely to include a job in the Twin Cities.
More than 140 mechanic jobs will be eliminated in April, and only 30 of Wagner's co-workers are below him in seniority. Northwest also says it likely will eliminate up to 900 mechanics positions altogether by the end of the year as it removes 30 older planes from its fleet.
"My wife and I talked about this for about three hours last night, to decide on a game plan," said Wagner, 40, who is married with two grown children and one still at home in Coon Rapids. "We decided for the time being to just play it by ear."
The past few years have been filled with hardship for Northwest Airlines and its employees, but no group of union workers has been hit harder than the mechanics represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).
While the ranks of pilots companywide was thinned by 19 percent between 2000 and 2004 and the number of flight attendants has gone down by 13 percent, the number of mechanic jobs has plunged 40 percent, from 9,300 to 5,600.
Locally, AMFA's membership has shrunk 42 percent to 3,100 in the past three years. All of those remaining members have 15 or more years of seniority, and most make about $70,000 a year.
Ted Ludwig, president of AMFA Local 33, said there is no question that mechanics have felt the effects of downsizing disproportionately.
Unlike pilots and baggage handlers, whose work is tied locally to the flights they service, many AMFA members work on heavy maintenance of planes, such as overhauls, that are done over long time periods.
Increasingly, that heavy maintenance is being outsourced to lower-paid workers in places such as Singapore. Ludwig said that by year's end some work that had been done locally will be shipped to El Salvador.
The union's contract with Northwest allows 38 percent of the heavy maintenance work to be outsourced. Ludwig said that the threshold has been met and may have been exceeded slightly.
He said that the union has fought the company and even public perception that paying veteran mechanics top dollar is somehow a luxury. Ludwig argues that it is a necessity for safety's sake. Union mechanics are certified by the FAA and are required by law to fix or report anything they see that is improper, even if they aren't working on those items specifically. Overseas mechanics, he said, have no allegiance to any particular airline or community and are under no legal requirement to address all problems.
AMFA contract administrator Jeff Mathews said that union members are being encouraged to relocate if necessary to keep their jobs, rather than viewing it as a straight layoff.
But it's hard not to get discouraged. Charles Slay, a mechanic who took early retirement last year, moved from Atlanta to the Twin Cities two years ago to keep his job. His wife didn't relocate, and he commuted.
"It's difficult to take up roots," he said. "When I moved to Minneapolis, I thought it would be secure because Minneapolis is home base, headquarters. But now it looks like a lot of people who came up there with me are facing another upheaval."
Wagner said he has been bumped 25 to 30 times in earlier layoffs and he knew of one mechanic who was bumped 120 times in his career. He thinks he can probably get a job with the company in another city, but thus far he has put a premium on staying with his family in the Twin Cities.
Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., said that for those who are actually laid off there is a big difference between now and layoffs of 10 or 20 years ago.
"They used to mean that you'd get your job back after a period of time, because of a model change or seasonal layoffs," Chaison said. "But increasingly these layoffs are downsizings. You're not necessarily going to return to your old job, because it won't be there."
Moving on to something else may also be tough. "The mechanics are going to have a very difficult time," he said. "Their skills are not directly transferable, and they're working in an industry in very difficult times."
