By any objective measure, Northwest Airlines has not been crippled by the mechanics union strike. Instead, the airline is functioning at near normal levels, having easily weathered a glitch or two during the first days of the strike.

Moreover, the airline is moving to replace striking mechanics with other qualified mechanics. The process has gone well because there are more than enough mechanics out there who need work. They have readily crossed picket lines and, along with NWA’s management personnel, are keeping the airline’s planes safe and flying.

The strike was ill-conceived. The leadership of the Airline Mechanics Fraternal Association disserved the membership two ways: First, the strike was called without union leadership giving members a chance to vote on Northwest’s final offer. Second, the mechanics union could not secure the support of other airline unions. As a result, all other unionized Northwest employees &045; pilots and cabin attendants among them &045; crossed picket lines.

Fallout from the strike for union mechanics will be severe because their jobs will be gone.

If the union believed it could shut down Northwest, it got a wake-up call when it didn’t happen. The airline realized long before the strike that a work stoppage was likely and prepared accordingly. The fact other unions did not follow the mechanics helped the company’s internal preparations succeed.

Strike or not, Northwest remains in the financial woods. The airline is at the brink of bankruptcy, but was before the strike. Record aviation fuel prices are making a bad situation worse. In that context the mechanics strike has proven to be little more than an inconvenience.

While other unions accepted concessions to help the airline prevent bankruptcy, the mechanics declined, preferring instead a strategy designed to hurt Northwest. The mechanics union has eroded its credibility and put its members at risk of permanently losing their jobs. Not smart.

&045; The Forum (Fargo)