Comair's layoff of 2,000 employees, including 1,500 local workers, will go into effect as planned regardless of the result of this week's vote on a proposed contract by the airline's striking pilots, company officials said Monday.

        The union representing Comair's 1,350 pilots will have a ratification vote Thursday through Saturday on a proposed settlement presented by the National Mediation Board last week.

        If the pilots accept the deal, the strike would end and the airline could resume operations as soon as possible.

        The layoffs are to go into effect Sunday, but Comair spokeswoman Meghan Glynn would not speculate on how long it would take to recall some or all those affected by the layoffs if the proposal

        passes.

        Comair's pilots went on strike March 26, citing differences over work rules, retirement benefits, job protection and pay. The airline last month announced the layoffs, which come on top of the elimination of 200 pilot positions and the reduction of Comair's fleet by 17 planes.

        Representatives from the Kentucky Department for Employment Services will be at Comair offices today through Thursday to allow workers to apply in advance for unemployment benefits.

        The layoffs would be one of the largest job losses in Northern Kentucky history if they were to become permanent, according to Tri-County Economic Development Corp. senior vice president Dan Tobergte.

        In addition, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce president Gary Toebben said the layoffs could result in the loss of $2 million in retail sales a week. And the loss of Comair's influx of passengers and pilot spending has meant the loss of about $2 million daily.

        That's based on previous studies that showed the overall economic impact of Comair on Northern Kentucky to be $3 million a day, or $1 billion a year.

        “This has been the worst time economically for this to happen,” Mr. Toebben said. “This is probably the worst economy in Northern Kentucky for the last 10 years, and then this. That's why we're hoping the pilots ratify the contract and Comair comes back.”

        In related news:

        • The pilots union and the company acknowledged that negotiators from both sides are working feverishly to iron out the final language of the proposal.

        “What the (mediation) board put together was broad conceptual pieces, and the details of the language were left to the writing committees from both sides,” said Paul Lackie, spokesman for Comair's branch of the Air Line Pilots Association. “So there will have to be some compromises made.”

        Neither Mr. Lackie nor Ms. Glynn would say how the process was going, only that both sides were committed to finishing by Wednesday.

        That's when the compromise proposal - presented to both sides by the mediation board Thursday — will be unveiled to the airline's Cincinnati-based pilots in two information sessions.

        The company agreed Friday to the proposed settlement, but the union's Master Executive Council chose not to endorse it, saying it was not the result of negotiation.

        • Three Comair pilots have filed suit against their national union, saying ALPA International has shown a conflict of interest by allowing its Delta Air Lines' branch to negotiate a tentative agreement that limits the growth of Comair and other Delta Connection carriers owned by Delta.

        The suit was filed Friday in federal court in New York, according to Comair regional jet captain and plaintiff Daniel Ford.

        “ALPA has a legal responsibility to treat all their members fairly and equally ... and cannot support the efforts of the Delta (union) to restrict Comair and simultaneously fulfill its obligations to protect and promote the interests of Comair,” said Mr. Ford, 36, a 13-year Comair veteran and president of the RJ Defense Coalition, an organization of regional jet pilots.

        Delta's 9,700-member union reached a tentative agreement April 22 with the company in a deal that would allow Delta to complete the purchase of 57 70-seat regional jets on order. In addition, Delta could purchase an additional 18 70-seat jets, but only if it adds the equivalent of three mainline pilot positions for each jet.

        And the Delta deal limits the amount of flying by Delta Connection (Comair, SkyWest, Atlantic Southeast and AC Jet) to 34-37 percent of the entire Delta system, Mr. Ford said.

        Anya Piazza, spokeswoman in ALPA's national office, said the union was aware of the lawsuit, but had yet to be officially served.

        “But our lawyers have studied a version of the suit and find it without merit,” Ms. Piazza said.

        In August 2000, ALPA's national leadership denied a Comair request to be merged with Delta's union.

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