Northwest Airlines pilots hold a silent picket march outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport terminal

MINNEAPOLIS (CNN) -- As Northwest Airlines and its pilots continued talks aimed at reaching a settlement before a strike deadline this weekend, travelers scrambled to find alternatives to flying with the airline.

"The calls are nonstop," said Janelle Nunez of Partners in Travel in Minneapolis. "People who were thinking that maybe the strike wasn't going to happen are now fairly confident that it will and they are definitely booking away from Northwest."

Some progress was reported Wednesday in negotiations between the airline and the pilots union. Although Northwest said it was optimistic about a settlement, the airline canceled 400 flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday, most of which begin or end in Northwest's hub cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit and Memphis, Tennessee. About 25,000 passengers had been booked on those flights.

If a settlement is not reached, pilots could strike as early as 12:01 a.m. EDT Saturday, the deadline of a 30-day "cooling off" period.

In Minot, Northwest is only carrier

In Minot, North Dakota, would-be air travelers won't have many alternatives. Northwest is the only air carrier serving the city of 35,000.

"Monopoly services are fine, if you can depend on them to be there all the time. If not, monopolies shouldn't be allowed to operate," said Dave Danielson, who needs a flight out for business in Dallas this weekend.

"It makes life extremely difficult and very frustrating. You depend on Northwest being there to fly," he said.

The airline and the Air Line Pilots Association have been negotiating over compensation, job protection, work rules and other issues.

Although President Clinton has the authority to halt a strike for 60 days if it would deprive any section of the country of an essential transportation service, he is not inclined to intervene and would take a hands-off approach unless the strike approaches the Labor Day weekend, a White House official said Wednesday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the Clinton administration doesn't expect a strike would have a wide national impact but plans to reassess its position as the holiday weekend approaches.

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