Eastern Flight Attendants Reach Back-to-Work Pact

MIAMI —  Eastern Airlines said Monday that it has reached a back-to-work agreement with its flight attendants union, making the union the first to sign such a pact with the bankrupt carrier since it was crippled by a strike 11 months ago.

“The agreement settles all outstanding strike-related disputes and associated lawsuits between the company and the union,” said Robin Matell, a spokesman for the Texas Air unit.

Under the pact, Eastern agreed to rehire 215 senior flight attendants by April 1 but can also protect the jobs of 1,900 flight attendants hired to replace striking workers, he said.

Eastern and the flight attendants’ Transport Workers Union local 553 signed the back-to-work pact 10 weeks after the union ended its strike against the Miami-based carrier.

The flight attendants union is the first of Eastern’s three unions to reach an accord to return to work, but union and airline negotiators still must agree on a new contract to replace one that expired in 1988.

Eastern’s pilots union ended its strike on Nov. 23, along with the flight attendants, but the machinists union has continued its walkout. Pilots are also negotiating a back-to-work accord, Matell said.

The strike began March 4, and Eastern filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors five days later.

Matell said under the pact Eastern will fill future vacancies for flight attendants from a seniority list of strikers.

About 1,800 of the 5,000 flight attendants working for Eastern when the strike began crossed the picket lines, and 1,900 replacements were hired, he said.

“This agreement protects the jobs of those who helped rebuild Eastern,” Matell said.

In exchange for Eastern’s rehiring 215 flight attendants, the union dropped a lawsuit challenging the jobs of 215 recruits who were in training when the flight attendants ended their strike.

Eastern also will turn over to the union all dues that it had collected from working flight attendants since the strike began.

Separately, a federal judge overseeing Eastern’s bankruptcy granted the airline’s request to set up a special fund to guarantee customers and travel agents full cash payments in case of refund claims.

The request, an effort to boost confidence in Eastern, was supported by the carrier’s unsecured creditors, its preferred stockholders and a court-appointed trustee.

A lawyer for Eastern estimated that the carrier would initially set aside about $115 million for the program.