Acting in the interests of the airline bosses, President George Bush threatened June 25 to use special powers against 23,000 flight attendants at American Airlines, who in February had voted to strike June 30 after working without a contract for two years. Under legislation often wielded against railway unions, Bush declared that he would use emergency powers to impose new mediation in the dispute and delay any strike action for another 60 days. Representatives of American, the world's largest airline, declared that Bush's threat ensured "there will be no disruption in service."

In face of the White House warning, and under the supervision of a government-appointed National Mediation Board, union and company representatives pieced together an agreement a few hours before the strike deadline expired. Over the following 10 days, the flight attendants were due to vote to either ratify or reject the deal, details of which have not been released.

A few days earlier, the airline bosses and the Transport Workers Union--representing mechanics, ramp workers, and other workers--announced a tentative pact. The agreement includes wage increases of 8 percent and more, and provisions on benefits, retirement, and work rules.

Bush used the same emergency powers earlier this year to stave off a strike by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association members at Northwest Airlines. The employers also threatened to intervene in a dispute between Delta Air Lines and 9,800 pilots.

Around 1,350 pilots at Delta's wholly owned subsidiary of Comair have won substantial salary increases after stopping work for 89 days and grounding the company's 80-plus planes. Under the contract ratified June 22 with a 64 percent "yes" vote, the salaries of the lowest-paid pilots will rise from $16,000 to $21,000 a year. Pilots also won improvements in retirement benefits.

Pilots at other airlines flying local routes watched the dispute with keen interest. In common with more and more companies, Comair operates a fleet of regional jets, a type of aircraft that out-competes the turbo-prop airplanes that formerly dominated shorter-haul flights. The Comair contract is expected to establish a standard for conditions throughout this sector of the industry.

At American Airlines, pilots have protested a cost-cutting proposal by the company to trim the trip from Dallas to Honolulu to under eight hours--a flight time that would allow the company to legally assign two pilots rather than the three presently required under federal regulations. In addition, the airline wants to increase the speed of its planes by 2 percent and fly them 9,000 feet below standard cruising altitude. Spokespeople for the Allied Pilots Association explain that these measures would expose the planes to turbulent air and would subject pilots to increased wind noise in the cockpit.
 

Some 1,500 flight attendants at Aeroméxico, Mexico's largest airline, struck for a wage increase in early June. The airline, which is majority-owned by the Mexican government, was forced to cancel 500 flights during the two days of the stoppage. The workers won an increase of 9.5 percent, 1.5 percent less than their original demand. Their average annual wage stands at $9,300.

The two-day strike was the first serious labor crisis for the administration of President Vicente Fox, who in the end decided not to use his executive powers to end the strike, as President Ernesto Zedillo did in 1998 and 2000 to bar strikes that took place at Aeroméxico.  
 
 
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