Northwest Airlines' pilots went on strike late Friday, grounding the airline and threatening to plunge air travel into chaos across the middle of the country. The White House said President Clinton would not intervene.
The executive council of pilots' union rejected a last-minute proposal that was about 2 1/2 hours before the strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. EDT Saturday."With no agreement in place, I have instructed our strike committee to tell our pilots to withdraw all services immediately," Steve Zoller, head of the council, told reporters in Minneapolis shortly before midnight.
Northwest spokesman Jon Austin said the company would remain at the negotiating table as long as it takes, but it was unclear when, or if, talks would resume.
"We're ready any time, any place, anywhere," Austin said. "This is the last thing I wanted to be here tonight telling you."
Northwest, the nation's sixth largest passenger airline, controls 75 percent to 82 percent of the airline seats into Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis, Tenn.
Airline Pilots Association spokesman Paul Omodt had said earlier that tentative agreements had been reached on most contract issues, but not on two of the most contentious points: job security and compensation.
Northwest pilots say they earn an average salary of about $120,000 per year. The airline says the average salary is $133,000.