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Comair pilots OK contract; flights resume July 2



HEBRON, Kentucky (CNN) -- Pilots for Comair announced Friday they have approved a new contract, ending a nearly three-month strike that shut down the nation's second-largest regional airline.

Sixty-four percent of the 1,450 pilots voted to ratify the five-year contract. Limited flights are to resume July 2.

"I am pleased to announce that Comair pilots have ratified an agreement with our company," said J.C. Lawson, master chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association's Comair pilots. "Our strike is over, we are going back to work."

Comair President Randy Rademacher said the contract approval closes a chapter in the company's history.

"We are pleased to have a new contract with our pilots and look forward to welcoming them and our other employees back to Comair," he said. "We want to thank our customers, the communities we serve and all of our employees for their patience and support. We are looking forward to working together to resume service as quickly as possible."

The service on July 2 will involve about 10 aircraft flying to 26 cities, he said, with a gradual increase to 50 aircraft in service by the end of July.

Rademacher also said about 1,300 laid-off employees would be brought back to work in the next five weeks, and most of the rest of those laid off would be back by the end of the year.

Representatives of the company and the Air Line Pilots Association reached a tentative agreement on the contract last Thursday after three days of negotiations held under the auspices of the National Mediation Board.

Lawson said then the contract was significantly better than the one pilots rejected May 12. He said there was much improvement with regard to compensation, retirement benefits, retroactive pay and work rules.

Comair pilots went on strike March 26. The walkout forced Comair, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, to suspend operations and lay off 2,400 employees.

Delta said in a statement on its Web site it was pleased with the agreement.

"This is good news for all Delta customers and the communities we serve," said Frederick W. Reid, Delta's president and chief operating officer. "We look forward to Comair resuming service as an integral part of the Delta Connection network."

Before the strike, Comair served 95 cities in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean from flight hubs in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Orlando, Florida.






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