Northwest Airlines defends job outsourcing

ST. PAUL, Minn., April 13 (UPI) -- Northwest Airlines head Doug Steenland told Minnesota lawmakers the carrier has no choice but to cut jobs and outsource maintenance work to save money.

Steenland said Northwest lost $727 million last year and would end 2005 in the red. Northwest recently announced it would retire 30 older aircraft from its fleet and eliminate up to 900 mechanics jobs.

The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association asked the Legislature to hold hearings and have Steenland to testify about the job cuts before the Senate Transportation Committee, the Minneapolis Star Tribune said.

Steenland called outsourcing a "tried and true practice" in two hours of testimony.

Southwest, Delta, Air Tran and other competitors routinely outsource jobs in an industry that lost $10 billion in 2005. Southwest and Jet Blue were the only profitable U.S. air carriers last year.

Steenland said Northwest, which has trimmed about a quarter of its workforce, needs to reduce annual labor cost by $1.1 billion to return to profitability.