By Doug Cunningham

Northwest Airlines wants to throw out its union contracts. The airline has asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to do that if the unions don't agree to concessions of $1.4 billion a year. Northwest filed for bankruptcy protection in September. The pilot's union at Northwest expected this step and says it's hopeful an agreement with Northwest can be reached. Mechanics have been on strike at Northwest since August. The mechanics union will meet with Northwest today to discuss the status of their dispuite and to see if a resolution can be reached. Northwest has hired permanent replacements for the 4400 striking mechanics. Northwest plans flight schedule reductions starting in January as part of overall cost reduction. The company is planning additional schedule as well. The airline said it expects its first-quarter 2006 system mainline capacity to be down 11 percent to 13 percent.