Northwest Flight Attendants Threaten to Strike

Northwest says it will go ahead with its cost-cutting plan, despite its flights attendants' disapproval. (By Paul Sancya -- Associated Press)

"Any disruption to service and the ability to deliver the service could be devastating," said Ivan Feinseth, an analyst with Matrix USA LLC.

A federal judge gave the airline permission two months ago to toss out the flight attendants' old contract if the two sides could not reach a new agreement.

On Monday, union negotiators presented the attendants with a proposal that would cut total salaries and benefits by $195 million. Despite being endorsed by union negotiators, that deal was rejected by the attendants in a 55 to 45 percent vote. The company quickly announced that it would begin imposing cost-cutting measures, which include a 21 percent reduction in pay for attendants.

Union officers said the company's proposal will cut the salary of a flight attendant with 10 years on the job from $41,000 to about $33,000.

The union says the new agreement will further reduce pay and benefits by allowing the airline to recalculate the way attendants are credited for flight hours.

Some travel experts are advising fliers to steer clear of Northwest in coming weeks.

Lisa Davis, editor of Frequent Flyer magazine, urged travelers to book flights on other carriers. If the flight is short, customers might be better off driving, she said.

Other experts said there was little that travelers can do because flights on other airlines are largely booked. Also, they said, flight attendants are going to engage in seemingly random job actions -- making it difficult for travelers to pick and chose what routes to avoid.

"It's like guerrilla warfare," said Mike McGarry, vice president of marketing and public relations for Short's Travel Management. "It will inconvenience a bunch of people and embarrass Northwest, but it won't shut down the system."