Release # 01.23

March 23, 2001

CINCINNATI – Comair pilots and their families will gather for a special event on Sunday night, March 25, 2001, during which they will follow the status of their contract negotiations and looming strike deadline. The Comair pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International, could initiate a strike at 12:01 a.m. on March 26 if they and their management are unable to reach an agreement on a new contract by that time.

At the strike deadline, the Comair pilots’ leadership, the Master Executive Council (MEC), and their Negotiating Committee are expected to be in Washington, D.C. in continuing contract talks mediated by the National Mediation Board (NMB). At or near midnight, the MEC will announce the status of the contract talks and possible strike to the pilots and families gathered at the event.

If management compels the Comair pilots into striking to gain a fair contract, the pilots will hold picketing at the Cincinnati – Northern Kentucky International Airport, from 12:01 to 12:30 a.m. on March 26. The picketing will take place outside of Terminal 3, upstairs on the west end of the departure gates.

Comair pilots began negotiations in June 1998, and entered NMB mediation in September 1999.

Formed in 1931, ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilots union, representing 59,000 airline pilots at 49 carriers in the United States and Canada.

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The media is invited to attend the Comair Family Awareness event:

Sunday, March 25, 2001
7 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Airport Radisson Inn
Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport

859-371-6166

ALPA Contact: Paul Lackie, (859) 282-2534