US Airways, flight attendants union still talking after midnight deadline

Union members and their families held candlelight vigils at airports across the country

March 25, 2000
Web posted at: 12:40 a.m. EST (0540 GMT)

WASHINGTON -- Bargainers for US Airways and the Association of Flight Attendants negotiated past a midnight strike deadline into the early hours Saturday, in an attempt to avert a walkout against the nation's sixth-largest air carrier, the union said.

"The two sides are at the bargaining table and have agreed to extend talks," said union spokesman Scott Treibitz.

A 30-day cooling-off period imposed by federal mediators expired at midnight Saturday.

Flight attendants were scheduled to begin a series of random walkouts one minute after the deadline expired. In a labor action dubbed CHAOS (Create Havoc Around Our System), they had planned to selectively strike flights on 49 routes. In response, the carrier planned to shut down a minute earlier, at midnight.

"We've been able to settle a large number of issues, mostly the smaller issues," Pat Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said earlier Friday. "But the larger issues of pay and pension remain unresolved."

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Flight attendants have not received a raise since 1996, the year their contract expired. The starting salary for US Airways attendants is $17,145 a year. More veteran attendants receive $36,918.

US Airways had offered the flight attendants a deal it called "parity plus 1," a formula linking their pay to the average of the four largest airlines, plus 1 percent. Flight attendants objected, claiming the carrier was using inappropriate figures to calculate new salaries. The new plan, they said, would cut their pay.

The airline said Friday it would review "parity plus 1."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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