NWA will outsource 73 jobs in Michigan

Starting next month, Northwest Airlines Inc. will phase in a five-month plan to move the jobs of its ramp workers and ticket agents at 69 airports to outside contractors.

The airports affected handle 50 or fewer Northwest flights a week. In Michigan, work will be outsourced at Traverse City, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Saginaw, affecting 73 full-time jobs in the state, said Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski earlier this week.

Northwest plans to keep similar work in-house at 40 of its largest airports, including Detroit Metro Airport, where it operates more than 500 daily flights.

It's unclear how many jobs will be affected, but union leaders estimate that number to add up to 1,500 to 2,000 positions.

The work will go to other airlines such as Northwest commuter Mesaba Airlines and Air Wisconsin and flight service vendors such as Swissport International. Northwest plans to make the changes in Traverse City and Lansing in November, Saginaw in December and Kalamazoo in January.

The plans are part of a concessionary contract that also included an 11.5% wage cut in June. The contract will save the carrier $190 million a year.

The contract "was the lesser of two evils," said Stephen Gordon, president of the ground workers union local in Detroit. Workers will have the option to use their seniority at the company to move into a position at another location.

Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Friday that there are enough vacancies at the company to cover all of the employees whose jobs will be outsourced. But he acknowledged that those vacant positions could have different classifications, such as part-time work.

Workers also have the option of taking 10 weeks severance pay and keeping the chance to get called back to work, or 20 weeks severance pay without recall rights. Workers could also try to keep their jobs, at less pay, with the new companies.