"MSP design funding OK'd"

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Airport design funding OK'd
Northwest says it plans to vacate maintenance hangar
BY MARTIN J. MOYLAN
The Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press


By a 14-1 vote, the Metropolitan Airports Commission on Tuesday approved
spending about $10 million to design the first phase of what could be an
$860 million expansion of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

And Northwest Airlines revealed that no matter what happens with the
expansion plan, the airline expects to "wholly or substantially vacate" a
maintenance hangar that its union mechanics say should remain in operation.

The hangar would be demolished during a later stage of the expansion under
current plans. And the mechanics have assumed that its demolition would cost
them about 2,000 jobs, since Northwest has not indicated it would replace
the building.

A letter from Northwest to MAC chairwoman Vicki Tigwell, made public
Tuesday, heightened the mechanics' concerns.

Northwest not only said that it expects it will walk away from the hangar
but that it also does not anticipate a need for additional hangars at the
airport in the "foreseeable future." Eagan-based Northwest would not comment
on any job actions or other labor issues.

But the mechanics union interpreted Northwest's statements to mean that it
intends to eliminate thousands of mechanics' jobs, continuing its
outsourcing of maintenance work to U.S. and foreign contractors.

"We are still predicting 2,000 layoffs," said local union President Ted
Ludwig. "Where is that work going to go? It is not going to stay in the
state of Minnesota."

In recent years, Northwest has laid off thousands of mechanics, including
some 2,000 in the Twin Cities, as the carrier racked up billions of dollars
in operating losses.

Ludwig said the union will now focus on trying to get state legislators on
the union's side.

MAC Commissioner Daniel Boivin said the MAC should do what it can to
preserve jobs.

But several other commissioners said the issue is best left to the mechanics
and Northwest. Contract talks have gone slowly between the two sides.

Boivin was also the only commissioner to vote against funding design work
for the first stage of the expansion, saying that the process was going too
fast and that issues such as noise and congestion need to be more thoroughly
addressed.

But most other commissioners were bullish about the plan, saying it will be
good for the economy and Twin Cities travelers. The first phase will add
seven, eight or maybe more gates at the airport's secondary Humphrey
Terminal at a cost of $136 million to $140 million.

Passenger, airline and other user fees would mostly finance the Humphrey
project.

By 2007, if current plans hold, all airlines other than Northwest and its
regional carriers and alliance partners will move to the Humphrey Terminal.
The airport's larger Lindbergh Terminal would then be expanded in two
stages.

Northwest contends the expansion is needed to accommodate a projected 60
percent increase in passenger traffic by 2020, when 55 million travelers per
year are expected to pass through the airport.


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