Southwest flight attendants picnic over contract negotiations

<br>WASHINGTON (AP) _ Southwest Airlines flight attendants say the prospect of no meal breaks at the nation's most profitable airline is no picnic. <br><br>So, picnic baskets in hand and passing out

Wednesday, March 12th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

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. About 85 percent of Southwest's employees are represented by a union.

Ed Stewart, spokesman for Dallas-based Southwest, said talks are continuing. ``We think negotiations are proceeding quite productively,'' he said. ``Make no mistake, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we do have the best flight attendants in the industry.''

Southwest flight attendants have tried repeatedly to successfully negotiate a 15-minute per day break. Reddick said she often eats lunch on the plane standing over a trash can, if she gets to eat at all. Southwest's flight attendants and pilots clean the airplanes between flights, unlike other airlines that have cleaning crews.

``There are some small steps we need to take, some quality of life issues we're speaking to,'' Reddick said.

Major airlines lost $7.7 billion in 2001 and more than $10 billion in 2002. In that climate, Southwest now is being forced to examine ways to cut costs and improve operations. Southwest's earnings plummeted 53 percent last year.

Since the 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.