NWA looks to send more of its repairs out
BY MARTIN J. MOYLAN
Pioneer Press
Northwest Airlines is bumping up against its spending cap on aircraft maintenance work it can outsource. So the airline wants to negotiate authority to send more maintenance work to outside vendors in the U.S. and overseas, says the union representing the airline's mechanics.
It's a move that's part of the airline's plan to cut labor costs, one that includes additional layoffs, the union says.
The Eagan-based airline's existing contract with the mechanics union gives it the authority to spend 38 percent of its aircraft maintenance costs on outside vendors. Until the last year or so, restrictions on the layoffs of its own mechanics have kept Northwest from hitting that limit, keeping outside maintenance spending between 20 percent and 25 percent of total costs, the union says. It simply didn't make sense for Northwest to send work outside the company while still having to pay idle union mechanics.
But that has changed with Northwest's layoff of some 2,700 mechanics in the past three years, made possible by invoking the "force majeure" clause in the contract. The clause permits work force reductions in response to certain forces beyond the carrier's control, and Northwest cited the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Iraq war and the SARS outbreak in Asia.
"Now, Northwest is saying it'll be at 37.9 percent (outsourced maintenance) for the year,'' said Jim Atkinson, president of Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 33. "And they've told us they want to outsource 48 percent of maintenance and lay off another 1,000 mechanics."
Northwest won't comment on the union's account. The mechanics contract is amendable in May 2005. Contract talks could begin in October this year.
Northwest, as part of its push for $1 billion in wage and labor savings form its employees, has said it wants givebacks worth about $174 million a year from its mechanics.
The airline has lost more than $2 billion on its operations in the past three years, and currently is in contract talks with its pilots' and ground-workers' unions.
A
MFA has long questioned the quality of outsourced maintenance and expressed alarm about the security of U.S. planes maintained by foreign nationals.
"FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) oversight of outsourcing is minimal," said Atkinson.
But Northwest has deemed the outsourcing of aircraft maintenance a "competitive tool" in its drive to regain profitability.
The airline has insisted that while costs for outsourced maintenance are lower than for in-house maintenance, quality and safety are not compromised.
Northwest says its uses overseas maintenance facilities that are at least as secure as its U.S. maintenance bases.
Northwest primarily outsources work on its DC-10s, 747-200s and DC-9s. These older fleets have peaks and valleys in their major maintenance scheduling, the airline says.
"This peak-and-valley problem makes the economics of in-house maintenance unjustified,'' said Kris Bauer, vice president-aircraft maintenance, in the May 2003 issue of Passages, the airlines in-house newsletter. " …To be cost-competitive in a globally interdependent marketplace we need to outsource some of our maintenance."
As of last May, about half of Northwest's outsourced aircraft maintenance work was done in Asia, an area that accounts for about a fifth of Northwest's revenue.
The shifting of work to Asia is a real sore point with AMFA, which argues Northwest is exporting jobs that could stay in the U.S. and Minnesota.
"We are talking about a company that received millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars, only to take that money and provide jobs to Singapore and China,'' said Atkinson, who adds that an increasing amount of maintenance is going to Asia.
Why is it all we hear about with Amfa is Layoffs? Layoffs and more Layoffs!!!!!
At the TWU read the latest release!
TWUATD
BY MARTIN J. MOYLAN
Pioneer Press
Northwest Airlines is bumping up against its spending cap on aircraft maintenance work it can outsource. So the airline wants to negotiate authority to send more maintenance work to outside vendors in the U.S. and overseas, says the union representing the airline's mechanics.
It's a move that's part of the airline's plan to cut labor costs, one that includes additional layoffs, the union says.
The Eagan-based airline's existing contract with the mechanics union gives it the authority to spend 38 percent of its aircraft maintenance costs on outside vendors. Until the last year or so, restrictions on the layoffs of its own mechanics have kept Northwest from hitting that limit, keeping outside maintenance spending between 20 percent and 25 percent of total costs, the union says. It simply didn't make sense for Northwest to send work outside the company while still having to pay idle union mechanics.
But that has changed with Northwest's layoff of some 2,700 mechanics in the past three years, made possible by invoking the "force majeure" clause in the contract. The clause permits work force reductions in response to certain forces beyond the carrier's control, and Northwest cited the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Iraq war and the SARS outbreak in Asia.
"Now, Northwest is saying it'll be at 37.9 percent (outsourced maintenance) for the year,'' said Jim Atkinson, president of Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 33. "And they've told us they want to outsource 48 percent of maintenance and lay off another 1,000 mechanics."
Northwest won't comment on the union's account. The mechanics contract is amendable in May 2005. Contract talks could begin in October this year.
Northwest, as part of its push for $1 billion in wage and labor savings form its employees, has said it wants givebacks worth about $174 million a year from its mechanics.
The airline has lost more than $2 billion on its operations in the past three years, and currently is in contract talks with its pilots' and ground-workers' unions.
A
MFA has long questioned the quality of outsourced maintenance and expressed alarm about the security of U.S. planes maintained by foreign nationals.
"FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) oversight of outsourcing is minimal," said Atkinson.
But Northwest has deemed the outsourcing of aircraft maintenance a "competitive tool" in its drive to regain profitability.
The airline has insisted that while costs for outsourced maintenance are lower than for in-house maintenance, quality and safety are not compromised.
Northwest says its uses overseas maintenance facilities that are at least as secure as its U.S. maintenance bases.
Northwest primarily outsources work on its DC-10s, 747-200s and DC-9s. These older fleets have peaks and valleys in their major maintenance scheduling, the airline says.
"This peak-and-valley problem makes the economics of in-house maintenance unjustified,'' said Kris Bauer, vice president-aircraft maintenance, in the May 2003 issue of Passages, the airlines in-house newsletter. " …To be cost-competitive in a globally interdependent marketplace we need to outsource some of our maintenance."
As of last May, about half of Northwest's outsourced aircraft maintenance work was done in Asia, an area that accounts for about a fifth of Northwest's revenue.
The shifting of work to Asia is a real sore point with AMFA, which argues Northwest is exporting jobs that could stay in the U.S. and Minnesota.
"We are talking about a company that received millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars, only to take that money and provide jobs to Singapore and China,'' said Atkinson, who adds that an increasing amount of maintenance is going to Asia.
Why is it all we hear about with Amfa is Layoffs? Layoffs and more Layoffs!!!!!
At the TWU read the latest release!
TWUATD
