NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Northwest Airlines became the latest airline to announce staff cuts, as it plans to cut about 1,600 flight attendant positions.

The airline said it has started to notify flight attendants of voluntary leave programs that it hoped would minimize the number of involuntary furloughs.

Northwest, the nation's No. 4 airline, announced earlier this year it would be cutting back on its schedule of flights due to continued weakness in demand for air travel. But it did not give any details or targets on work force reductions at that time.

Competitor Delta Air Lines announced plans to cut 1,500 flight attendant positions last week, while US Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines have all announced job cut plans that will reach across the various job classifications at those airlines. A Northwest spokesperson was not immediately available to talk about job cuts in other job classes.

The voluntary leave program at Northwest will give the employees recall rights and continuation of free travel benefits, but not health insurance.

Shares of Northwest (NWAC: up $0.01 to $6.76, Research, Estimates) were little changed in midday trading following the announcement.