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Pilot Shortages Plague Northwest Passengers

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 27, 2007

One of four legacy carriers that just emerged from the protection of bankruptcy courts, Northwest is still not firmly on its feet.

The airline is not only suffering from the skyrocketing fuel costs – an industry-wide problem – but a pilot shortage that has produced major cancellations.

Northwest has cancelled more than 12 per cent of its flights four days in a row, with wider problems probable if the trend continues into late summer.

Consumers left holding the bag (strangely shaped like a Northwest ticket) aren’t being ignored, since the Minneapolis-based airline is beefing up staffing, easing restrictions, and contacting customers.

On the other hand, Northwest is realizing the prediction made by the Air Line Pilots Association that it would suffer pilot shortages at the end of June, July, and August. Pilots cannot fly more than 90 hours per month under their labor contract with Northwest, even though the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allows for 1,000 hours per year (about 93 hours a month).

The airline has blamed its high cancellation rate on bad weather, saying early June storms in the east and midwest pushed many pilots past their monthly limits before the last week started.

A combination of bad weather, poor pilot scheduling, and unsettled labor relations could be combining to cause the problems. Northwest pilots are permitted to work overtime on a volunteer basis but are among the airline’s unionized workers whose wages and benefits were sliced during the airline’s reorganization.

If pilots reach their hourly quotas again during the peak travel periods of July and August, more cancellations could occur. As a result, several travel websites are urging potential customers to book tickets elsewhere during the last half of both months.

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