Posted on: Friday, June 15, 2001

Comair, pilots union agree on contract

USA Today

Regional carrier Comair and its striking pilots union reached tentative agreement on a new contract yesterday that will raise labor costs across the fast-growing regional-airline industry.

Delta Air Lines, which owns Comair, had said the pilots' demands could make regional-jet service unprofitable. The pilots said regional jets' growing importance in domestic flying merited much higher pay scales.

The 81-day Comair strike has affected one major airline's plans. Northwest Airlines, a minority owner of regional carrier Mesaba Airlines, said yesterday that it won't buy the other 73.1 percent because of recent industry developments — a reference to the Comair dispute.

Neither Comair nor the union would release details of their agreement, pending ratification by the union's 1,350 members.

The proposed five-year agreement calls for significant pilot raises, a company-funded retirement plan and new rules limiting maximum daily hours. It was signed after 36 hours of nonstop bargaining that left both sides exhausted.

J.C. Lawson, a Comair captain and chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association at the airline, urged pilot members to approve it. But even if the contract is quickly ratified, Comair flights won't resume for at least a few weeks.

Comair pilots haven't flown since the strike began March 26. Because they've been out more than 90 days, federal rules require all of them to go through brief retraining before flying again.

The agreement would bring back all of the striking pilots and keep alive the nation's second-largest regional carrier.

Experts say the Comair contract is likely to become the gold standard for pilots unions at other regional airlines. Regionals Air Wisconsin and Horizon Airlines are negotiating with their pilots unions now, and Air Wisconsin's union voted earlier this week to strike if no agreement can be reached.