Northwest Airlines and Striking Mechanics Will Resume Contract Negotiations

BLOOMINGTON, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 2006--The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), which represents striking mechanics at Northwest Airlines Inc., confirmed today that Northwest Airlines and AMFA have agreed to resume contract bargaining. A bargaining session is scheduled for August 15, 2006. Neither side has attached any preconditions. The parties have not met in contract bargaining since November 2005. AMFA has been on strike since August 20, 2005, when the company imposed a contract.

Jeff Mathews, spokesman for AMFA's Bargaining Committee, said: "Our goal remains to obtain a consensual agreement. We welcome the resumption of face-to-face discussions. The timing is appropriate because, as of July, we are now the last labor group with an unsettled contract. We believe that both sides would benefit by an agreement that will allow all to move forward."