Associated Press
Southwest Flight Attendants Protest Deal
Wednesday March 12, 8:01 am ET
By Leigh Strope, Associated Press Writer

Southwest Flight Attendants Picnic Over Contract Negotiations

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Southwest Airlines flight attendants say the prospect of no meal breaks at the nation's most profitable airline is no picnic. So, picnic baskets in hand and passing out boxed lunches to their co-workers, the flight attendants plan to protest Wednesday at airports in Baltimore, Chicago and Oakland, Calif.


The demonstrations are aimed at a management proposal to increase working hours without providing breaks or meals.

The airline's 7,500 flight attendants are represented by the Transport Workers Union, which has been negotiating a new contract for nine months.

Southwest, the nation's only major airline posting profits in an industry struggling for survival, wants its flight attendants to add 2.5 hours to their 10.5-hour days, and to cut their time off.

While other airlines have laid off thousands of workers and slashed operations since the terrorist attacks, Southwest has not.

"We really want to keep the Southwest spirit that is so well known, as it is or even better," said Portia Reddick, a Baltimore-based flight attendant. But the flight attendants also want their customers to know about the "quality of life" issues that could affect the upbeat image the low-cost carrier presents, Reddick said.

The flight attendants are the airline's only unresolved labor contract Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, major airlines have cut 100,000 jobs, slashed in-flight
food service, hedged fuel costs, closed reservation centers, installed automatic check-in kiosks and changed flight schedules at hubs to use planes more efficiently.

The second-largest U.S. airline, United, and US Airways are in bankruptcy proceedings. Industry officials worry that war with Iraq would further
rattle travelers and drive more carriers into bankruptcy. American Airlines, the largest carrier, is lining up bankruptcy financing, according to some
reports.

Unions representing workers at American plan a rally Wednesday on Capitol Hill to inform the public about the financial crisis facing the industry.