The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Northwest Airlines:
The Figures Don’t Add Up!

Apr 1, 2002

Northwest Airlines recently announced that it was calling back about 500 more workers of the 9000 that it laid off following September 11.

After the attacks, all the airlines cut back on flights. Northwest cut its schedule by 20%. But the Northwest schedule is now only about 11½% smaller than last spring’s schedule. In other words, the airline has restored close to half of the flights it had cancelled.

It has not called back anywhere near half of the 9000 workers it laid off. In fact, the 500 re-hires just announced brings the total to only a little over 800, less than one tenth of those laid off.

What are they cutting back on? Maintenance?