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American Morning

Comair Pilots Reach Agreement With Management; Strike May End

Aired June 15, 2001 - 11:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The strike by Comair pilots may soon end. Their union has reached a tentative agreement with the regional airline after three days of talks.

CNN's Eric Philips has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If eventually ratified, the deal would end months of sour negotiations for pilots, and frustrating travel for passengers.

J.C. LAWSON, AIRLINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION: Today we have come to a tentative agreement with our management to end the 81-day strike. We believe that this agreement meets the requirements that the pilots have had.

PHILIPS: It was March 26 when more than 1,300 Comair pilots hit the picket lines, forcing the nation's second largest regional airline to shut down.

The pilots wanted higher pay and better retirement benefits. Beginning pay for a Comair pilot started in the teens. The pilots cited the huge disparity between their salaries and those of pilots who fly for Delta Air Lines, the parent company of Comair. Comair argued that in light of a much smaller operating budget, their offer was fair, one that would have given pilots a 40 percent raise over four years -- not good enough to ward off a strike.

RANDY RADEMACHER, PRESIDENT, COMAIR: I want you to know that our top priority right now is taking care of passengers and taking care of you. We will not let you down.

PHILIPS: But some passengers were let down, rerouted, or delayed because of canceled Comair flights.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't even know what to call home and tell their parents yet, when they're going to be able to make it.

PHILIPS: Meanwhile, Comair took several cost-cutting measures, including eliminating 200 pilot positions, removing 20 jets from its fleet, and laying off more than 2,000 employees. Those laid-off workers may now be called back to work.

Eric Philips, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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