Business Highlights

MINNEAPOLIS — Bankrupt Northwest Airlines Corp. took a major step toward reorganizing by winning pilot approval for $358 million in givebacks on Wednesday. But its labor troubles aren’t over yet.

Baggage handlers and the airline head to court on May 15 for a trial over whether the airline can reject their contract. Flight attendants are voting through June 6 on pay cuts. And pilots at Northwest’s bankrupt feeder carrier Mesaba Airlines are warning they may strike if their airline imposes pay cuts on them. A decision is due May 11, their union said.

The deal with Northwest pilots will take effect only if flight attendants and baggage handlers also ratify new contracts, the pilots’ union said.

The pay cuts for Northwest workers range from 11.5 percent for ground workers to 24 percent for pilots under the 5 1/2-year deal approved Wednesday. Pilots also took a 15 percent pay cut in late 2004. Just as important, the new deals include major work rule changes. For pilots, that includes allowing Northwest to start a subsidiary to fly jets with up to 76 seats.

"Potentially, the survival of the airline was hanging in the balance,” said Mark McClain, chairman of the Northwest branch of the Air Line Pilots Association. He had threatened to lead pilots out on strike if Northwest cut their pay and changed work rules without pilot consent.

"What we’ve done through this agreement is to introduce a level of certainty for Northwest pilots and their families,” he said. "Painful, but certain.”

Under the new contract, first-year Northwest pilots would earn about $27,000, up to about $159,000 for an experienced 747 captain. All the first-year pilots have been laid off, though. Northwest has been pressing for $1.4 billion in annual labor savings from all its workers, saying it needs the cuts to reorganize successfully.

Craigslist, Wikipedia founders awarded

NEW YORK — The founders of two popular Web sites and a nonprofit advocacy organization are recipients of the annual Pioneer Awards from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The San Francisco-based EFF said the winners "all represent vital, community-building organizations dedicated to spreading knowledge in or about our digital world.”

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster were honored for running a mostly free classified-ads Web site that helps people with such basic needs as housing and jobs.

Jimmy Wales won for his role creating and overseeing Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia that lets anyone contribute.

The collaboration now has some 4 million articles in more than 200 languages.

The EFF also recognized Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, for her role championing the public’s rights on intellectual property and technology policy.

The 15th annual awards were being given Wednesday at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference in Washington, D.C.<