ERLANGER — Leaders of Comair's pilots union called the company's bluff Wednesday, saying they did not believe the company when it said the fate of the nation's third-largest regional carrier hung in the balance this week.

        The airline's 1,350 pilots will begin voting today on a contract that, if approved, would end the 46-day strike.

First Officer Tom Rideout walks past soon-to-be laid off Comair workers at the Airport Holiday Inn, where pilots heard details of a proposed contract. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        As for those making the decision, rank-and-file pilots got their first look at the deal presented last week by the National Mediation Board.

        Many expressed disappointment about the proposal, saying it closely resembles a management proposal voted down in March.

        As pilots gathered at the Airport Holiday Inn to hear details, they were greeted by hundreds of protesters — non-union Comair employees who will lose their jobs Sunday because of the strike.

        The demonstrations were nonviolent but included several heated discussions between workers and pilots. Still, they didn't appear to sway the opinion of the pilots or their leaders.

        Many pilots who attended Wednesday's sessions declined to be identified or interviewed at length. The ratification vote will begin this afternoon and runs through Saturday, when results are expected to be announced.

DAY 46

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        Union officials said they presented the details to the pilots fairly, laying out the consequences of both yes and no votes in the two closed-door meetings.

        But they also acknowledged that the Master Executive Council (MEC) of Comair's branch of the Air Line Pilots Association had rejected the proposal in a resolution last week.

        “We agreed to send it to the pilots, but it fell far short of the minimum the pilot group told us they needed,” union chairman J.C. Lawson III said. “And the way it was presented — like it was as far as the company was willing to go and they would shut the airline down — there isn't any other way than to take it as if the mediation board was cramming it down our throat.”

        If the pilots follow through on their initial reactions and reject the proposal, the strike that began March 26 would continue, with no end in sight.

        Union negotiating chairman Corey Tennen confirmed that mediation board officials told both sides that they would not invite the sides back for more talks for at least 30 days if the proposal is not passed.

THE CONTRACT

Details of the proposed contract that Comair pilots begin voting on:     • Length: 4 1/2 years.     • Pay: 13.2 percent to 29.8 percent raises in first year, with 25.5 percent to 56.5 percent over life of contract.     • Work rules: A 14-hour maximum duty day. A minimum of 11 days off a month.     • Retirement: Company would contribute up to 6 percent — depending upon seniority — of pilot's earnings into a pension fund that would accrue. The pilot's 401(k) fund would also be improved.    Source: Air Line Pilots Association/Comair

        He also said the pilots cut their financial demands in half in an eight-day bargaining session last month that resulted in the proposal.

        The company and its parent, Delta Air Lines, have lost $4 million daily, or about $184 million through today. In addition, Comair has eliminated 200 pilot positions and 17 airplanes from its fleet. Beginning Sunday, Comair will lay off 2,000 — including 1,500 local workers.

        At least 100 of those about to lose their jobs showed up Wednesday. They stood outside with signs that read “I got my contract from the unemployment office” and “Does your MEC think for you? Will they pay your bills?”

        “There are a lot of us who want the company to survive, and when the pilots take their vote, they need to consider that,” said Jeff Molitor, 35, a Comair hotel coordinator from Amelia who is in line to be laid off Sunday.

        Company officials have said more layoffs and pilot and plane reductions are possible, and that Comair's future might be at stake.

        “There are two rooms here — a room for the yes vote and a room for the no vote,” David Siebenburgen, president and chief executive officer of Delta Connection, Delta's network of feeder airlines, and former president of Comair, said Wednesday. “And what's going on in the no room is dark and ugly. Life will go on for Delta Air Lines without Comair, if that's what it takes.”

        Sources within both Delta and Comair said Wednesday that newly appointed Delta president and chief operating officer Fred Reid will visit Cincinnati today to lay out the possible ramifications of a continued strike at Comair.

        The deal was given to both ALPA and company negotiators last Thursday by mediation board member Magdalena Jacobsen. Comair management has already approved the deal.

        The contract proposal was also handed out to pilots and the media Wednesday. It would make Comair's pilots the highest-paid in the regional-airline industry, 1 percent higher than the recent contract signed by pilots at Atlantic Coast Airlines in February.

        A Comair senior regional jet captain currently makes about $69,000 annually, while a first-year first officer makes about $16,000 a year.

        Under the 4 1/2-year proposal, those levels would immediately go to about $85,000 for a senior captain and almost $21,000 for a first-year first officer.

        The company's proposal that was voted down 1,090 to 6 in March would have raised the two levels to about the same as the new suggested deal.

        Mr. Siebenburgen said the deal provides several improvements over the last proposal and that it was the best in the regional-airline industry beyond pay alone. “The bottom line is that these guys would make the most money in the country to fly regional jets and would have the best work rules,” Mr. Siebenburgen said.

        Mr. Tennen said the proposal contains some improvements in work rules and retirement benefits - two key issues for the pilots — but there are also some steps backward.

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