Northwest can void flight attendant contract

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Northwest began seeking union concessions in 2003. It finally reached a tentative agreement with flight attendants March 1. Union leaders never endorsed it, saying they didn’t want to influence the vote of their members. Eighty percent of voting flight attendants rejected that agreement earlier this month.

Flight attendants are voting through July 6 on whether to affiliate with the Transport Workers Union, and at the same time they’re voting on whether to switch to the Association of Flight Attendants. The AFA said on Thursday it is prepared to jump into negotiations after the election if it wins.

Also Thursday, Gropper extended Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest’s deadline for filing its own bankruptcy reorganization plan before creditors can submit alternate proposals.

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Gropper ruled that Northwest had made enough progress on its Chapter 11 restructuring plan to justify extending the deadline to Jan. 15. After that, creditors will have until March 16 to submit their responses.

This is the second extension for the nation’s fifth-largest airline. In January it asked to have the deadline pushed back to July 13.

Attorneys for both Northwest and its creditors, which did not contest the motion, said they were optimistic that at least the bulk of the case could be resolved by the new deadline.

“Your honor, I believe that we have achieved a number of milestones,” Northwest attorney Mark Ellenberg said, adding that the airline has worked to resolve issues with its labor unions and restructured most of its aircraft fleet.

“I think we’ve made excellent progress but there’s still a lot to do.”

The January deadline will mark 16 months in bankruptcy for the airline, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sept. 14.

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