NWA USA today Article
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2007-06-29 11:15:48
"They have to step up to the plate and answer the questions and admit to a problem," said airline watchdog Terry Trippler, who is based in Minneapolis. Trippler added that Northwest should be out front with bigger overtures, like hiring extra staff.
As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, the airline had canceled 204 flights, the most of any day so far in June. There have been more than 1,000 cancellations since Friday.
Northwest has blamed the weather, pilot absenteeism and traffic control as reasons for cancellations.
The carrier began canceling a large number of flights last week as pilots reached flight-time maximums. The Northwest pilots contract sets flight time limits at 90 hours a month. The Federal Aviation Administration sets limits at 100 hours.
The Air Line Pilots Association has said it's been warning the airline of the upcoming shortages and Northwest did nothing to avoid the situation.
"The pilots have been out front; they have been answering questions," Trippler said. "You can't run and hide."
Meanwhile, passengers are incensed over the inconvenience.
Numerous cancellations and rebookings on Mike Hicks' itinerary on Saturday caused computers to label him a high flight risk, which led to further delays and luggage checks.
At one point, he was rebooked on a trip home that would have had him traveling for 16 hours from California to New Jersey, Florida and finally Detroit. He was taken off the flight and rebooked on an overbooked flight from which he was bumped.
He was sent to Delta without paperwork, only to be sent back to Northwest to get proof that he was legitimately sent that way.
Eventually, he took a flight to Salt Lake City, where Northwest staff compensated him with a free ticket.
"Hopefully they'll get this situation straightened out," he said. "It does affect so many people's lives."
Northwest, for its part, has asked ticket agents to accommodate passengers by booking them on different airlines.
"We have relaxed travel restrictions, we are letting people know about changes through our flight rebooking systems and through our technology notification systems," said NWA spokesman Dean Breest.
"We are working to remedy the situation," Breest said. "We hope to return to normal soon."
Pilots' monthly flight-hour restrictions under their labor contract will be reset next week. In addition, pilots and Northwest management met Wednesday to discuss possible solutions, said Air Line Pilots Association spokesman Wade Blaufuss. He would not elaborate on what was discussed.
Northwest also raised the ire of many air traffic controllers, who balked at the company's statement Tuesday that they were a cause of the cancellations.
"Responding to Northwest's appallingly inaccurate new reason for canceling flights ... air traffic control is most certainly not the reason for canceled flights. Period," said Doug Church, director of communications for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.