Comair is back in business.

        The Erlanger-based company's pilots Friday ratified a contract, ending the 27th-longest strike in U.S. airline history at 89 days. The airline immediately made plans to put planes back in the air July 2.

        “Our strike is over — we are going back to work,” said pilots union chairman J.C. Lawson III. “For three years we have sought to be recognized ... this contract meets that requirement.”

Chatting before the announcement Friday that the strike had ended were (from left) David Siebenburgen, president of Delta Connection; J.C. Lawson III, chairman of the Comair branch of the pilots union; and Randy Rademacher, president of Comair. (Jeff Swinger photos) | ZOOM |

        In a telephone ballot that began Tuesday and concluded at noon Friday, pilots approved the contract 733-408.

        If the airline's approximately 1,200 remaining pilots had rejected the deal, the future of the company — begun in 1977 by a father and son — was in jeopardy. The company has lost more than $320 million during the strike. As a result, it laid off 2,400 employees — 1,600 of them in the Tristate.

        News of the vote cheered business and tourism leaders, who say their interests have been hurt by the strike. The vote also was applauded by local travelers, who have had to deal with less frequent and convenient air service.

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        Despite the loss of $12.8 million in wages, it wasn't certain the pilots would approve the contract. Many pilots said throughout the week that the new deal didn't measure up to the expectations they had when they walked out on March 26 — a move that came after three years of negotiations didn't produce a contract.

        Comair president Randy Rademacher announced that flights will resume on July 2 to 26 cities, and that discount fares will be offered initially. But he added that the popular Weekend Traveler program will not return.

        “Tonight, we close a chapter in Comair history ... but we start a new chapter,” he said. “We look forward to welcoming our Comair pilots and other employees back and to serving our customers.”

        Mr. Rademacher said the company intends to recall about 1,300 of the 2,400 laid-off employees over the next four to five weeks.

Union chairman J.C. Lawson III said Friday that after three years of negotiations with Comair, the pilots have succeeded in being recognized. | ZOOM |

        He also said that he hoped to bring back “the vast majority of our employees by December,” when the airline also hoped to begin at least one daily flight to all the cities it served before the strike.

        “This is great news for all the people who have been laid off,” said Chris Lawhead, 25, a passenger service representative who had been out of work since May 14. “Now the waiting begins for us.”

        Mr. Lawhead said many didn't have to wait long. At least 30 laid-off employees gathered at a Florence restaurant to hear the news on television. As soon as the announcement was made, many former employees received calls on their cell phones, with managers asking when they could return to work, he said.

        Pilots held their own gathering at an Erlanger hotel, but would not allow reporters inside.

Chris Lawhead of Burlington, a passenger service representative laid off May 14, gets the call on Friday that he's returning to work. (Yuli Wu photo) | ZOOM |

        The contract came about after U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta intervened.

        It was after a June 8 meeting at Mr. Mineta's office in Washington that both sides agreed to resume talks, with a pledge to reach a deal within 72 hours. Three days of talks last week resulted in the tentative agreement ratified Friday by the pilots, who had resoundingly defeated two previous proposals — one from the company and one crafted by the National Mediation Board.

        “The economic impact this strike has had on the employees, the company, and the region has been tremendous,” said U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas, D-Ky., whose district includes Comair headquarters and many company employees and pilots. “The sooner Comair pilots can get back in the air and employees can return to work, the better for all concerned.”

        After the news conference announcing the ratification, representatives from management and the union signed the contract in a closed-doors ceremony.

        Pilots will begin retraining as soon as possible, since Comair had told the Federal Aviation Administration that as of Sunday, all its pilots would lose their ability to fly commercially since they had not been able to keep up with training.

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Here are the 26 cities to which Comair will resume service on July 2. Other cities will be added later, the airline said:    • Appleton, Wis.    • Charlotte, N.C.    • Clarksburg, W.Va.    • Columbia, S.C.    • Dayton, Ohio    • Detroit    • Fort Wayne, Ind.    • Grand Rapids, Mich.    • Greensboro, N.C.    • Greenville, S.C.    • Huntsville, Ala.    • Indianapolis    • Kalamazoo, Mich.    • Knoxville, Tenn.    • Lansing, Mich.    • Lexington    • Louisville    • Memphis, Tenn.    • Nashville, Tenn.    • Orlando, Fla.    • Pittsburgh    • South Bend, Ind.    • St. Louis    • Syracuse, N.Y.    • Toronto    • Tri-Cities, Tenn.

        And that's just one challenge facing the airline, which before the strike had been the nation's third-largest regional, dropping from second place in 1999.

        Comair re-enters the marketplace in what some industry officials have called one of the toughest economic environments for airlines in years, with an expensive new deal to pay for.

        The contract, which one union official who requested anonymity said increased total pilot compensation by approximately $55 million over its five-year length, makes Comair's pilots the highest-paid in the regional industry.

        But regional airline analyst Jamie Baker said that parent company Delta Air Lines will probably bring in one of its other regional affiliates or subsidiaries to help pick up the slack while Comair recovers.

        “Cincinnati will have the same service it had within a year, and we're standing by our prediction that Comair will return to where it was in 15-18 months,” said Mr. Baker, an analyst for the Wall Street firm UBS Warburg.

        The pilots will be brought back by seniority, with the contract calling for the return of all pilots — including the 400 positions that Comair cut during the strike.

        In addition, the deal calls for the return of the company's nine Embraer Brasilia 120s, which Mr. Rademacher said was a key in reaching the deal.

        “That way, we could get up more quickly and return more pilots,” Mr. Rademacher said.

        Of the remaining 28 Canadair Regional Jets, eight have already been remarketed to other airlines