Flight Attendants' Union Sees Layoffs at Northwest

Northwest Airlines plans to lay off about 1,400 flight attendants, the union representing the workers said yesterday.þþThe Professional Flight Attendants Association announced in a posting on its Web site that Northwest had said it planned two rounds of furloughs of flight attendants.þþThe first round will affect 900 attendants starting Oct. 31, the union said, adding that a second round of about 500 layoffs is currently planned in January.þþThe union represents about 8,500 flight attendants at Northwest. The airline's collective-bargaining agreement with the workers requires it to offer voluntary furloughs before starting layoffs.þþNorthwest, which filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors last week, said it needed $1.1 billion in average annual labor savings and that it might need to increase that figureþ