While Northwest Airlines (NWACQ) may finally be ready to begin negotiations on a new Airline Services Agreement with Pinnacle (PNCL), such negotiations may be stalled because of conditions the major carrier set for opening talks.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Pinnacle said it received notification that Northwestis ready to negotiate a new contract to replace the existing contract the two have been operating under since before the major carrier's bankruptcy. However, Northwest conditioned the start of the long-awaited negotiations on the conclusion of negotiations between Pinnacle and its pilot union, which became amendable in April 2005. The two sides have failed to reach an agreement and Pinnacle filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board.

Separately, Mesaba said that while it stands ready to negotiate with Northwest at any time, it has not received notification as Pinnacle had.

Meanwhile, Northwest is facing labor problems of its own. The U.S. bankruptcy court denied Northwest's request for an injunction to prevent planned job actions by its flight attendants. The carrier's flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), have authorized a strike and, at press time, sent its negotiators home, saying it is unlikely negotiations would resume in advance of the August 25 strike deadline. Instead, it is planning targeted work actions or unannounced strikes around the carrier's system, which it calls CHAOS, for Create Havoc Around Our System. Northwest is seeking $195 million in annual labor savings from AFA, which it imposed after the court granted permission for it to terminate the flight attendant's collective bargaining agreement.