World News Tonight (ABC) - 1998-08-29

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] On World News Tonight this Saturday,

[0:04] America's fourth largest airlines

[0:10] >> from ABC News. This is World News

[0:15] Tonight Saturday.

[0:16] >> Good evening. I'm Elizabeth Vargas with

[0:19] an abbreviated version of ABC's World

[0:20] News Tonight. Thousands of airline

[0:22] passengers across the country are

[0:24] scrambling to make other plans today.

[0:27] Pilots at Northwest Airlines walked off

[0:29] the job at midnight, shutting the

[0:30] airline down. Right now, the two sides

[0:33] are not talking, making it unlikely this

[0:35] walk out will end quickly. More than

[0:37] 2500 flights have been cancelled at 223

[0:41] airports around the world. But some

[0:43] cities are feeling this strike more than

[0:45] others. Minneapolis, Memphis, and

[0:48] Detroit are Northwest hub cities. We

[0:51] begin our coverage with ABC's Jamie

[0:53] Floyd in Minneapolis. Northwest pilots

[0:56] are on the picket line. At midnight,

[0:58] pilots walked off the job, accusing the

[1:00] nation's fourth largest airline of

[1:02] bargaining in bad faith. From Memphis to

[1:05] Minneapolis and across the Midwest,

[1:07] Northwest Airlines is the major link for

[1:11] 150,000 passengers daily. Their plans

[1:14] now thrown into turmoil. Even with the

[1:16] airlines cancellation of 400 flights

[1:19] before the strike, today's shutdown left

[1:21] passengers scrambling for seats on other

[1:23] carriers. We're going to get in at 610.

[1:25] >> Ken and Kelly Raider came to the ticket

[1:27] counter to salvage their honeymoon in

[1:29] England. One year in the planning.

[1:31] >> Now we're going on KLM out to Amsterdam

[1:33] and then we're flying from Amsterdam

[1:35] back to London and hopefully our tour

[1:37] will be able to pick us up.

[1:39] >> Northwest controls 80% of the traffic

[1:42] here in Minneapolis St. Paul. In Fargo,

[1:45] the number is closer to 90% where its

[1:47] airport today was deserted. in Duth,

[1:50] Minnesota. Northwest was the only game

[1:52] in town.

[1:53] >> Being that it's the only airlines that

[1:54] flies out of here, yeah, it's a big

[1:56] concern. Uh because otherwise I'd have

[1:58] to drive to Minneapolis.

[2:00] >> With no passengers at the gates, no

[2:02] tickets being sold, and no revenue

[2:04] coming in, the pilot's walk out is bound

[2:06] to take a toll on Northwest's other

[2:08] employees.

[2:10] Many are concerned how the strike will

[2:12] affect them.

[2:13] >> Me and my husband, we both work here, so

[2:15] we'll both be out of jobs probably by

[2:17] Wednesday.

[2:18] Northwest and its pilots have been

[2:20] negotiating for two years. In the end,

[2:23] the two most contentious issues, pay and

[2:25] job security, were the ones on which

[2:27] neither side would compromise. The

[2:30] pilots feel the company owes them for

[2:32] pay cuts during harder times for the

[2:34] airline.

[2:34] >> In 1993, this company was on the brink

[2:37] of bankruptcies. The pilots stepped up

[2:40] to the plate. They did what was

[2:42] necessary to keep the company going to

[2:44] make the company profitable. We offered

[2:46] to tie pay to the average of the big

[2:49] three airlines, United, American, and

[2:51] Delta. Airlines that are much bigger

[2:53] than us.

[2:53] >> With no talk scheduled, the real impact

[2:56] will be felt tomorrow. Sundays are the

[2:58] airlines busiest. Jamie Floyd, ABC News,

[3:01] Minneapolis.

[3:03] >> This is Bob Woodruff in Washington.

[3:05] According to Northwest Airlines, a

[3:07] 10-day strike would cost the company

[3:09] $127 million in lost revenues, and

[3:13] businesses across the country will

[3:15] suffer. In Northwest major hubs,

[3:17] Detroit, Memphis, and Minnesota, cab

[3:20] drivers are already sitting idle.

[3:22] >> If there are no flights coming into the

[3:24] Twin Cities, the cab business in at the

[3:26] airport is finished.

[3:27] >> Flower shops have lost one of their

[3:28] major supply lines, Northwest Cargo. And

[3:31] fresh fish that used to come in on

[3:33] Northwest jets now has to be shipped by

[3:35] more expensive couriers.

[3:37] >> There will be some places that we just

[3:39] can't get fish from, like Hawaii, I

[3:41] think will be real difficult.

[3:42] >> According to Northwest, the rippling

[3:44] costs of this strike from higher prices,

[3:46] lost wages, and business could reach $2

[3:49] billion a month. But Minnesota's state

[3:52] economist says his state will survive.

[3:54] The Northwest strike will be an

[3:57] inconvenience, but it's not the kind of

[3:59] thing that's going to bring Minnesota's

[4:01] economy or the region's economy to its

[4:04] knees.

[4:05] >> The strike could further erode Northwest

[4:07] stock price, which has already lost half

[4:09] its value since March. Fortunately, most

[4:11] businesses and passengers saw this

[4:13] strike coming and were able to prepare.

[4:16] If they had not, economists say the cost

[4:18] to this country could have been even

[4:20] higher. Bob Woodruff, ABC News,

[4:22] Washington. A Cuban airliner with 82

[4:26] people on board crashed on takeoff today

[4:28] in Keto, Ecuador. At least 74 people are

[4:31] reported dead. Some of those victims

[4:33] were on the ground. Witnesses say the

[4:35] Russianmade plane crashed into a street

[4:37] at the end of the runway. The flight was

[4:39] headed to Havana. We'll be right back

[4:42] after this break with more news in a

[4:43] moment.

[4:46] >> This is World News Tonight Saturday,

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[6:27] >> Last year, when pilots at American

[6:29] Airlines walked out, President Clinton

[6:31] stepped in to end the strike. But this

[6:33] time, he says the two sides will have to

[6:35] work it out themselves. Tomorrow, the

[6:37] president heads to Russia, which is deep

[6:39] in a financial and political crisis.

[6:42] Some think this is not the time for a

[6:44] summit. ABC's Anne Compton is in Moscow.

[6:48] >> It was calm on the streets of Moscow.

[6:50] Recent panic over the economic crisis

[6:52] seems to have subsided into a weary kind

[6:55] of resignation.

[6:58] >> Outside help won't solve our problems.

[7:01] You make your bed, you lie in it. Today,

[7:03] the man who must fix Russia's economy,

[7:06] acting Prime Minister Victor Cherin,

[7:08] appointed a team of respected reformers

[7:10] to help him turn the economy around.

[7:13] Most importantly, he signaled to America

[7:15] and the West there will be no return to

[7:18] a socialistcont controlled economy.

[7:22] >> We have already joined the world

[7:23] economy. There will be no turning back.

[7:27] That was not what they wanted to hear at

[7:29] the Parliament or Duma where the

[7:31] opposition groups want more government

[7:33] economic control and communist leaders

[7:35] spent today considering ways to increase

[7:37] their own authority. It is this power

[7:40] struggle that President Clinton will

[7:42] encounter next week and his scheduled

[7:45] meeting with opposition groups is taking

[7:47] on a new meaning. As Chair Nerdan and

[7:50] the Communist Duma leaders grow in

[7:52] political power, the man in the Kremlin

[7:55] is losing his because this is a moment

[7:58] of such transition for President Boris

[8:00] Yelen. Some say it's a bad time for

[8:03] President Clinton to come for a summit.

[8:05] Now he has to come and support Yelen and

[8:10] show that he is still uh backing Yelen

[8:14] and trying to help him to survive. But

[8:17] at the same time, Yelen is becoming uh

[8:22] weaker and weaker.

[8:25] Yeltson has always been able to count on

[8:28] President Clinton's support. But for

[8:30] this summit, the Americans are going out

[8:32] of their way to show they are listening

[8:34] to everyone, not just President Yelen.

[8:37] And Compton, ABC News, Moscow.

[8:40] >> More on the crisis in Russia and the

[8:42] upcoming summit tomorrow morning on this

[8:44] week with Sam Donaldson and Koki

[8:46] Roberts. Immigration officials are

[8:48] trying to decide what to do with more

[8:50] than 170 people found aboard a ship off

[8:53] Baja California. The passengers are

[8:55] believed to be illegal immigrants from

[8:57] China. The female passengers have been

[8:59] taken aboard a Coast Guard cutter while

[9:01] the men remain on their ship, awaiting

[9:04] word from the government. The Marine

[9:06] Corps is considering additional charges

[9:08] against the pilot and navigator whose

[9:10] plane downed a cable car in Italy 6

[9:12] months ago. 20 people died in the

[9:14] accident. Officials are convening the

[9:16] military equivalent of a grand jury to

[9:19] investigate whether the two aviators

[9:21] tried to obstruct justice. They already

[9:23] face charges of involuntary manslaughter

[9:26] and negligent homicide. That is our

[9:29] report for this evening for World News

[9:31] Tonight Saturday. Thanks so much for

[9:32] joining us for this abbreviated edition.

[9:34] Have a great evening. I'm Elizabeth

[9:36] Vargas for all of us. Good night.

[9:48] This has been a presentation of ABC

[9:50] News. More Americans get their news from

[9:52] ABC News than from any other source. ABC

[9:55] News, now always on.