Comair, Teamsters to Begin Talks on Concessions Again

Comair Inc. and its flight attendants will resume contract talks Aug. 23, as the workers prepare to strike should the bankrupt airline impose pay and benefit cuts.

Comair, a unit of Delta Air Lines Inc., and the Teamsters union are trying to agree on concessions that would help Comair exit court protection. The unit wants $7.9 million in annual reductions from the 970 attendants represented by the union, under an effort to lower total costs by $42 million.

"We have already proven that we are dedicated to keep this airline flying, but if Comair chooses unilateral action instead of a consensual agreement, then our members will decide how to take action," Connie Slayback, head of the Teamsters local at the Cincinnati-based airline, said in a statement Wednesday.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Adlai Hardin in New York agreed on July 21 to let Comair void the existing contract and impose new terms because it must "significantly reduce flight-attendant costs to compete in the regional airline market." The two sides were unable in previous talks to agree on concessions. The union has appealed Hardin's ruling.

"We still have an opportunity to reach a consensual agreement next week," Kate Marx, a Comair spokeswoman, said in an interview. "We also know we have a proposal the judge has ruled is fair and equitable."

Teamsters Local 513 said its members earlier voted 93 percent in favor of giving their leaders the right to call a strike. The latest round of talks is set for Aug. 23 and 24, the union said.

Because Comair reduced its original concession demand from the attendants by $1 million, the carrier must go back to unions for its pilots and mechanics, whose cost-cutting agreements were contingent on $8.9 million in reductions from the attendants. Comair has said it won't seek more than the original $17.3 million from pilots and $1 million from mechanics. Both unions approved concessions in January.

"We met with those unions last week," Marx said. "We are in active discussions with them to set up additional dates for talks."

Delta, based in Atlanta, is also in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

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