Travelers, business executives and tourism officials celebrated Friday's end to the three-month Comair pilots strike, a work stoppage that curtailed air service and rippled through Greater Cincinnati's economy with layoffs.

        But the euphoria was tempered by realization that the arduous task of restoring full air service at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will not be easy.

        “I'm glad we got to this day — I never thought it would come,” said Barbara Dozier, vice president of sales and marketing for the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau. “This strike has been devastating.”

MORE COVERAGE

Hotels, businesses, travelers welcome end of strike • Comair pilots end strike • Number of sources applied pressure • Comair pilots strike at a glance

        Almost two out of every three voting Comair pilots accepted a compromise hashed out between the pilots union and airline management, ending an 89-day strike that grounded the Erlanger-based regional carrier and pinched area hotels, restaurants, corporations and consumers. A total of 733 pilots favored the contract, with 408 voting against it.

        Steve Stevens, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's vice president of public affairs, warned that businesses and consumers shouldn't expect an immediate full return of service.

        Company officials said flying would resume July 2 with the airline restoring at least some service to all its pre-strike destinations by December. But the Delta Air Lines subsidiary will be smaller with more competition.

        Comair management shed 37 planes and laid off 2,400 non-pilot employees during the strike. Three other airlines launched or planned new service for routes flown by pre-strike Comair.

        “We recognize this isn't going to happen overnight, nor will it come back to its (former) level for a while,” said Mr. Stevens whose organization played a pivotal role in reviving moribund negotiations between management and the Air Line Pilots Association's Comair chapter. “I hope folks don't get overly excited and expect next week we will be back to where we were.”

        Any return is welcome.

        Occupancy at Northern Kentucky hotels declined 18.3 percent in April, a drop Ms. Dozier attributes to the pilots strike. Downtown Cincinnati hotels also have reported a drop in business compared to last year.

        It also will reassure convention planners. Cincinnati didn't lose any lucrative conventions or business meetings because of the strike, but travelers were inconvenienced.

        “There's just no question how important accessibility to a destination is,” said Mike Wilson, president of the Greater Cincinnati Convention & Visitors Bureau.

        Corporate executives echoed their approval of the pilots' vote.

        “This is a big deal,” John Barrett, president of Western-Southern Life Insurance Co., said. “It's one of those things that makes Cincinnati such an attractive place to be based. I'm just delighted.”

        Joe Kramer, vice president of economic development for the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, said Comair's return solidifies Delta's hub position at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. That bolsters Cincinnati's international business ties, he said.

        “This helps preserve a lot of the long international flights we couldn't support otherwise,” Mr. Kramer said.

        Comair employees also were relieved. Hebron resident Jim Stone, a Comair ramp worker for 3 1/2 years before being laid off, said he has been told that 95 percent of his co-workers will return to work by the end of July.

        “I'm just relieved it's all over and Comair is still in existence,” he said.

        Consumers also look forward to a return to normal service.

        Western Hills resident Geraldine Clement's long-awaited vacation will be delayed a couple of hours more today when she boards a Delta flight bound for Sarasota, Fla.

        She originally booked a direct flight on Comair; but now, she'll be forced to stop in Atlanta, Delta's headquarters city and biggest hub.

        “Nobody wants to wait an extra hour and a half when they can be there,” said Mrs. Clement, a teachers union member who understands the pilots' fight. But “I'm very glad they settled and I hope they got everything they wanted.”

        Enquirer reporter James Pilcher contributed to this report.