Northwest seeks employee ideas for cost-cutting = = Thursday September 12, 2:44 PM EDT = CHICAGO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Northwest Airlines (N= WAC) has asked employees to submit ideas for cost-cutting and revenue-gen= erating measures in an effort to meet the company's goal of being the low= est-cost carrier among major U.S. airlines. In a recorded message to employees on Wednesday, the anniversary of the S= eptember, 2001 attacks that devastated the airline industry, CEO Richard = Anderson said the airline needed to keep its costs in check and revenues = growing so it can avoid going the route of competitor US Airways, which f= iled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August. "I wish I could report an end to the tough times, but I think the most di= fficult decisions are yet again ahead of us," Anderson said. "The fact th= at our business hasn't returned to profitability and we do not know when = it will is our main challenge." = Anderson asked employees to submit their ideas through the company's inte= rnal computer system by October. He said he will head a committee that wi= ll review each idea and plans to implement the new ideas by the end of th= e year. Employees who submit the the top 50 ideas that are adopted will receive t= wo passes for travel on Northwest's system. "We need to hear from you about how Northwest can further reduce costs an= d increase revenues," Anderson said. "This is a substantive program to ta= ke your ideas and implement them quickly." Eagan, Minnesota-based Northwest has about 43,000 employees. The carrier = said last week it laid of 670 temporary workers after the U.S. Labor Day = holiday and planned to cut another 350 full-time jobs by mid-September. In another effort to trim costs, Northwest said earlier this week that ef= fective January, 2003 it would require employees who participate in its m= edical and dental managed care plans to contribute 20 percent toward the = monthly cost of coverage. Anderson said Northwest will also increase copa= ys for prescription drugs under certain plans. "This is going to be the first step in basically analyzing every cost we = have on the table to make sure that the business is viable," Anderson sai= d of the health care coverage changes. = =A92002 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS