AirTran Airways, a low-fare carrier, will announce plans today to start service from Detroit this fall, challenging troubled Northwest Airlines at one of its crucial hubs.þþAirTran will begin service in Detroit on Nov. 8 with daily flights to Atlanta and Orlando. It also plans flights between Detroit and Sarasota, Fla., beginning in February, officials at the airline said yesterday. They did not announce introductory fares.þþThe announcement brings another low-fare airline to an airport long dominated by Northwest, which uses Detroit as a hub along with Minneapolis and Memphis. Northwest operates about 70 percent of the flights from Detroit, where it frequently charges steep last-minute fares to cities where it is the only carrier.þþAirTran, which is based in Orlando, Fla., will join other low-fare carriers such as Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines in serving Detroit. The airport, which is the 10th busiest in the country, is also served by the other major domestic airlines.þþAirTran's announcement comes as Northwest is locked in a labor dispute with its mechanics' union. The two sides are in the midst of a 30-day cooling-off period in negotiations on wage and benefit cuts that Northwest maintains are needed to avoid a Chapter 11 filing.þþNorthwest, the last of the major airlines to seek concessions from its workers, is trying to win $1.1 billion in cuts. Thus far, its pilots and salaried employees have agreed to cuts worth $300 million. The airline wants cuts of $176 million from the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which has countered with an offer for $143 million in cuts. No other union has accepted cuts.þþTwo weeks ago, the National Mediation Board declared that talks had reached an impasse, starting the 30-day countdown. The two sides were supposed to hold negotiations in Washington this week in advance of that deadline.þþBut yesterday, the airline said union negotiators had walked away from the talks, and urged them to return. The union said Northwest had repeated a previous demand that would eliminate 53 percent of mechanics' jobs, which it deemed unacceptable.þþWithout a deal by Aug. 20, mechanics could strike. The airline, in turn, could impose cuts on the mechanics, or lock them out. Northwest has vowed to continue flying in the event of a strike, and has hired and trained about 1,000 replacement mechanics. But labor specialists said it was likely that the union would present the airline's last offer to its members for a vote before a strike occurs.þþ
Source: NY Times
