DETROIT — Northwest Airlines, which continues to lead its rivals in percentage of flight cancellations, said yesterday that all of its 385 laid-off pilots have been asked to return and those who agree to come back will be assigned training dates by tomorrow.

Northwest is calling back pilots as a way to curb the hundreds of cancellations that have plagued it in the past few days, as well as late last month. By 7 p.m. yesterday, the carrier had canceled 119 flights nationwide. Air Line Pilots Association spokesman Monty Montgomery said he didn't know how many pilots accepted offers to return but said 37 had resigned since they were called back.

Another 48 pilots are being trained to return to work, a process that takes 40 days.

"A significant percentage is choosing to not come back," Montgomery said, though he was unable to provide a specific number.

Many laid-off pilots who found other jobs during their furloughs are also delaying their return until they get a better idea of the airline's stability, Montgomery said.

Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski said the airline began calling pilots back last August, when 700 were on furlough. He also added that the 385 pilots total was through June 30.

In June, the carrier said it would cut its flight schedule and call back pilots to deal with large end-of-month cancellations.

Northwest blamed pilot absenteeism for the cancellations, while pilots attributed the problem to crew shortages and an exhausted workforce, which is consistently being asked to fly at the contractual maximum of 90 hours a month.

NO. 1 IN CANCELLATIONS

Northwest and the pilots union continued talks yesterday to resolve the issue. The airline led all major U.S. carriers in the percentage of canceled flights for June and the first half of July.

According to www.flightstats.com, which collects travel data, Northwest canceled 2,148 of its June flights, or 5.6 percent, the highest percentage among the six comparable airlines: Southwest, American, United, Delta, Continental and US Airways.

The airline also had a higher percentage of cancellations through July 15, according to www.flightstats.com. By that date, Northwest had canceled 468 flights, or 2.8 percent of its schedule, compared with those same airlines.

"From everything I'm seeing, today's operation is better than the weekend," said Northwest spokesman Dean Breest about yesterday's flights, adding that pilot hours reset at the start of the month, which should curb labor-related cancellations.

While it's uncommon for airlines coming out of bankruptcy to deal with these kind of cancellations, labor troubles have historically been a problem for Northwest, said Minneapolis-based airline consultant Terry Trippler, who worked as a ticket agent for Northwest in 1968 and 1969.

Trippler said other airlines coming out of bankruptcy, such as United and Delta, have done so without major problems.

POOR PILOT CONDITIONS

The latest problems with Northwest pilots stem from years of concessions by workers that have led to unacceptable conditions for pilots, said Air Line Pilots Association spokesman Wade Blaufuss.

"We were very proactive in keeping Northwest out of bankruptcy," Blaufuss said.

Pilots gave up 15 percent of their pay in 2004 and another 24 percent in 2006.

During those years, pilots lost retirement benefits and overtime pay, and accepted increases in medical premiums and decreases in coverage. They also accepted work rules that kept them away from home and family for longer periods of time.

Pilots now have to work longer hours to reach the flight maximum stipulated in their contract of 90 hours per month, Blaufuss said.

"These agreements were signed under duress," he said. "They used bankruptcy to destroy our contract."

Before bankruptcy, pilots were scheduled to work maximums of 70 to 80 hours of flight time a month and rarely reached 90 hours, something that now occurs regularly.

Previous contracts considered anything above 80 hours of flight time overtime. Pilots are no longer paid overtime.

"We're having all our pilots fly overtime with no extra pay," Blaufuss said.

"They are not there for their children, spouses, birthdays, holidays and bar mitzvahs. It's causing cumulative stress and fatigue."