Yep, this one might not have a happy ending...
The layoffs were not unexpected, in fact they normally start within days, not weeks after the start of a strike. Looks like Delta is serious about shrinking Comair and folding its assets into other carriers. Of course, the union will say "don't worry boys, they're just bluffing!". The scope language in Delta's new TA with the pilots will limit Comair's expansion and ASA is poised to take up the slack from a Comair shutdown.
ALPA is giving job seminars (Kit Darby et al.) for the Comair pilots, many will just move on. However, others will be left out on the street with families to feed if this isn't settled soon.
This reminds me of the Eastern strike years ago. It was the world's biggest party at first, hospitality suites in MIA with free booze and flight attendants dispensing favors. Delta pilots on the sidelines urging the strikers to "hold the line" as they benefited from the abandoned routes.
Reality started to set in when that second paycheck didn't come...
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Saturday, April 28, 2001
Comair lays off 2000
Half of nonpilot work force let go as strike takes toll
By Cliff Peale
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ERLANGER — The 33-day Comair pilots strike hit the company's headquarters hard Friday when the airline said it would lay off 2,000 employees, three-quarters of them in Greater Cincinnati.
Losing almost $4 million a day and with no end to the strike in sight, the airline told most ticket agents, flight attendants and some office workers that they would be laid off May 13.
The layoff is half of Comair's nonpilot work force, and observers took it as a sign that talks with the pilots' union are not going well even as negotiations continued into Friday evening in Washington, D.C.
“One reading would be that they really don't think this is going to be settled anytime soon, and what they've been doing is just too expensive,” said David Walsh, a Miami University business professor and airline labor expert.
Even if the strike were settled immediately, it would take weeks to get the airline up and running, spokeswoman Meghan Glynn said. The laid-off workers would be recalled after Comair is at full strength, she said.
Comair has canceled all flights until May 26.
“Based on the prolonged nature of the strike, these are steps that we had to take today,” she said in a somber announcement at Comair's headquarters.
Brenda Ryan of Newport, a ramp worker at Comair for 18 months, was doing volunteer work at The Beach Waterpark Friday afternoon when she got the news that she had been laid off.
She said Comair had been “very fair” in keeping the nonpilot employees as long as it did.
“I have two part-time jobs, so I didn't come home today saying, "Oh my God, what am I going to do?'” Ms. Ryan said. “But a lot of people are.”
Local customers already have felt the impact of the strike by Comair's 1,400 pilots since March 26. But many of those travelers made other arrangements, and the blow to the local economy will multiply when the Comair employees lose their salaries and slow spending at local stores, restaurants and entertainment venues.
“This is bad news, really bad news,” said Tom Zinn, staff economist for the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. “This does not bode well for things, particularly since the economy has been slowing.”
Earlier this month, Comair eliminated 200 pilot positions and took 17 planes out of its fleet because of the cost of the pilots' strike.
Comair had kept nonstriking employees on full salary and benefits through 33 days of the pilots' strike, but Friday cut its staff “to ensure our financial viability for the future,” Ms. Glynn said.
“What they (employees) really asked is, "Can you give us some assurance, at least give us some notice?'” she said. “That's what we're doing with today's announcement.”
She would not say how much the company would save by cutting the 2,000 jobs.
Ray Neidl, an airline analyst at ING Barings, estimated that the layoffs could save more than $1 million a week. Tat would cut losses to Delta Air Lines, Comair's parent, to under $27 million a week.
“The pilots are asking something that in my opinion is not grantable,” he said.
Many of Comair's maintenance workers, as well as employees of its Aviation Academy, are not affected by the layoffs. Most but not all of the customer-service workers and flight attendants are being laid off.
Comair and its 600-member flight attendants union have been negotiating a contract for two years.
Susan Zurborg, a Comair ticket agent from Independence, said she took a voluntary leave after the pilots went on strike, and had not gotten notice Friday that she had been permanently laid off.
She said the company was “doing what it has to do.”
“The company's been nothing but wonderful with the gate agents,” she said. “This is a very sad day. I've spent a lot of time and sweat there, and met a lot of great people.”
Many employees left Comair's headquarters soon after the announcement, some visibly upset.
Airport spokesman Ted Bushelman said the feelings were understandable.
“It's always bad when your friends and neighbors are laid off,” he said. “It always hurts. That's about all you can say. They (Comair) have to do what they have to do.”
Ms. Glynn also would not comment on the negotiations with pilots. But Max Roberts, a Comair pilot and spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said the company could have avoided Friday's layoffs by concentrating on an agreement over the last three years.
Scott Foose, vice president of the Regional Airline Association, said the Comair strike is a test of how regional airlines across the country can maintain financial viability.
“With their cash flow cut off by the strike, there's only so much they can do,” Mr. Foose said. “I think the pilots have overestimated the ability of the airlines to pay out the salaries and benefits they're asking for.
“It's in everybody's interest that we pay attention to what Comair is doing.”
Ms. Ryan, the Comair ramp worker, said she didn't know every detail of the company's latest offer to pilots.
“But from the things that I've seen, I think it's a fair offer,” she said.
[This message has been edited by Airbubba (edited 28 April 2001).]