Northwest blames pilot no-shows for cancellations

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derg

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I'll betchya a dollar that Northwest thought that slashing pay would prod pilots to work more to cover an increased schedule. They probably should have anticipated that a lot of guys would probably have second jobs or be less motivated to continuously kill themselves flying max.

But that's just my presumption! :)

Northwest blames pilot no-shows for cancellations
Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:15PM EDT

LOS ANGELES, July 27 (Reuters) - Northwest Airlines Corp.'s (NWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) chief executive said in a letter to employees on Friday that a spike in pilot absenteeism led to a rise in flight cancellations, which he expects to last through the weekend.

The No. 5 U.S. airline said it expects to complete 93 percent of its flights on Friday. Major U.S. airlines generally complete 98 percent or more of scheduled flights.

"We saw a significant spike in certain narrowbody pilot absenteeism this morning which forced us to cancel flights," Northwest CEO Doug Steenland told employees on Friday.

Northwest uses narrowbody planes largely for domestic flights.

"We are operating under the assumption that we will see increases in cancellations on Saturday and Sunday as well," Steenland said.

Northwest emerged from a 20-month bankruptcy protection in May and has trimmed its flight schedule in a bid to free up pilots, who in the past have blamed nonweather-related cancellations on insufficient staffing.

Major airlines and their regional affiliates have struggled with delays this year due to crowded skies, full planes and little if any reserve in carrier fleets.
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Wow, I feel really bad for NWA management. If I were an NWA pilot.....I'd want to call in and pick up open time, thereby preventing cancellations. You know, just to be a team player, keep the money coming in....we all need to pitch in to cover lack of staffing. After all, I wouldn't want all those stock options the CEO is gonna cash in to loose any value.










/extreme :sarcasm:
 
i hope the company sees that the pilots have been worked like ranch hands and they need to hire and train new pilots at maximum capacity.
 
Was there a spike in absentism?

Is it "absentism" caused by end of month / out of flight time (100 hours/month) limits? (Would this be called absentism by management or is there other terminology?)
 
cre8flyer said:
Was there a spike in absentism?

Is it "absentism" caused by end of month / out of flight time (100 hours/month) limits? (Would this be called absentism by management or is there other terminology?)
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Yes, management always seeks out the most demeaning word possible to use against the pilot professionals at airline X.

Ah - such tools.

I bet the issue is really. . .

"NWA manegement has failed to hire enough flight crews, hence raising delays and the number of canceled flights."

Well - raise pay, attract candidates, train them, send to the line. . .I think that may fix the issue - at least a little.
 
Well, they don't seem in any rush to hire people.

Those applicants who meet the qualifications will be contacted via email in approximately 30-40 days with further instructions.
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Lets see, you cut my pay and took my retirement. So, now you want me to pick up extra time to cover your management mistakes?

LOL!
 
cre8flyer said:
Was there a spike in absentism?

Is it "absentism" caused by end of month / out of flight time (100 hours/month) limits? (Would this be called absentism by management or is there other terminology?)
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Maybe, maybe not. Here is something else that was in the article:

"We are operating under the assumption that we will see increases in cancellations on Saturday and Sunday as well," Steenland said.
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This is the typical Airline vs Union battle. Airline is going to blame the pilots, pilots are going to blame the airline.

Expect to see a press release from the Union stating that the pilots did nothing wrong.

This is probably a combination of:
pilots flying their min. gurantee,
using their sick time (which is their right)
using their vacation time
trip drops (for whatever reason)
pilots not picking up extra time
Reduced amount of pilots on reserve
Bad morale

All in peak months when flights are full & extra flights are added. Does not help with some of the crappy weather that we have had lately.
________________________________________________________

= Recipe for disaster

Northwest has been struggling for their survival over the years & at the same time Northwest employees have been kicked in the teeth & gutt, that can only go on for soooo long before you have employee backlash.....
 
JEP said:
They better fix it by NJC. I have two rides on a NWA 75. Hopefully the guys aren't timing out by the 21st of the month.
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Since crews are restricted to 30 hours in 7 days, and 8 hours a day, the earliest that a pilot would have a 100 in a month issue is the 23rd of the month. There could however be a 30 in 7 conflict if guys are getting junior manned.
 
Watch. Steenland's going to cut vacation time and then take a huge 20 million dollar bonus for making a "brilliant" and "strategic" decision.
 
Velocipede said:
Lets see, you cut my pay and took my retirement. So, now you want me to pick up extra time to cover your management mistakes?

LOL!
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I just got through esssplaining to some flight attendants over dinner a while ago!
 
OldTownPilot said:
Since crews are restricted to 30 hours in 7 days, and 8 hours a day, the earliest that a pilot would have a 100 in a month issue is the 23rd of the month. There could however be a 30 in 7 conflict if guys are getting junior manned.
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Nope. Could time out much earlier. Throw a couple five-hour delays in ORD in the mix and the fact the 8 hour limit is a scheduled limit not a hard limit and you potentially time out much faster.

Also add in the fact a pilot only needs a 24-hour break (duty free - nothing keeps it from being a layover) every 7 days, legally speaking, a pilot could be scheduled to work nearly 313 days all "back to back" year after year.

Crew times are not simple math by any means.
 
Now as far as NWA goes (and all business, for that matter)


You reap what you sow.
 
pilot602 said:
Now as far as NWA goes (and all business, for that matter)


You reap what you sow.
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:yeahthat:

Treat your employees like crap, and on those days where they are kind of feeling sick but not horrible, they'll say, screw it, I don't feel like going.

Treat them well and make them happy to go to work, and they're going to say, well, I'll take one for the team.

Gee, I wonder how most airlines treat their employees. And then they wonder what's going on?
 
What a timely thread.

Last night I stayed at the Doubletree SFO and rather than hang in the bar, I decided to take the "free" (keyword for pilots :p ) Burlingame Trolley that swings by most of the airport hotels and drops you in Burlingame's shopping and dining district. Of course, since it swings by most of the airport hotels, it's often filled with pilots and flight attendants wanting to pass their layover time eating or shopping.

Anywayzz...this nice guy was sitting next to me on the trolley and we started chatting about travel. He was a senior captain for NWA and had just flown in from Tokyo. He looked very tired and not too happy about his job. Basically he repeated several times to me that he couldn't wait, and was counting the minutes to retirement. I felt bad for him. He looked defeated. (as well as exhausted) He went on to tell me how earlier in the day he'd been at the driving range (behind the hotel) hitting a bucket of balls with some United guys and went on to tell me their stories.

I felt really bummed out after listening to him, although I think he appreciated the fact that I listened to him and let him vent. He seemed to really need that. It wasn't so much the NWA or UAL guys that were bumming me out, but how a once, proud profession, has declined. For all the naysayers who shoot down Velocipede and his strong stance, I say to you - Velo ain't no dummy and pilots need to stand strong together!
 
I think a lot of the absences are actually fatigue calls. They run those DC-9 crews (aka "certain narrow body pilots) into the ground as badly as CRJ crews.

I think they looked at SWA's business model and decided to try that. SWA, at least as far as ground crews go, runs short staffed and plans on overtime to cover busy periods. The difference is they pay a premium for that overtime and treat their employees very well. NWA forgot about that part. I think pilots picking up open time and taking one for the team is EXACTLY what they were counting on. When that, along with the lack of furloughees returning, didn't happen, they were stuck with no place to go. Now it's biting them in the ass. It also wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the DC-9 routes were intended for Compass, and the delays in getting Compass up and running are adding fuel to the fire. Weren't they supposed to be taking deliveries in April and flying by now?
 
An updated newsfeed story says that NWA didn't fly 166 flights (of 1191 planned). That's about 14% of the schedule that's not being flown!!

If they're profitable, they're making a big mistake. No company can just give up on 14% of its business.

I'd bet they have a huge planning screw-up and can't predict which crews will time-out close to month end / how many crews they really need. Probably some airline consultant did a back-of-the-envelope calculation of the number of crews they need and the number stuck in managements' minds and wasn't adequately challenged. I suppose the complex rules about how many hours a day, week, month, and year a pilot can fly don't make it simple. Nor do vacation days, sick days, or poor morale / relationships with the pilots.
 
SkyCougar said:
It wasn't so much the NWA or UAL guys that were bumming me out, but how a once, proud profession, has declined. For all the naysayers who shoot down Velocipede and his strong stance, I say to you - Velo ain't no dummy and pilots need to stand strong together!
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You are so right, SC...As Dr. Benjamin Franklin said, "We must all hang together or, surely, we will all hang separately."
 
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