Concessions Total $7.9 Million Per Year

There were times it looked like this would never happen... but flight attendants at beleagured regional carrier Comair voted Tuesday to accept pay cuts and other concessions, to assist the carrier in its bid to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Associated Press reports the four-year deal includes a 7.5 percent pay cut, as well as job protection for Comair's 970 flight attendants if the airline is sold by parent company Delta Air Lines Inc. before emerging from bankruptcy protection.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters spokesman Galen Munroe said the deal was ratified overwhelmingly, although he did not give an exact count.

Both sides in the often-heated negotiations sat down to deal after a bankruptcy judge gave Comair permission to impose concessions last month, effective November 15. The tentative agreement was reached four days later.

Officials with the union declined to release a dollar amount for the concessions package... but Comair says the package totals $7.9 million in annual savings.

Assuming the bankruptcy court approves the agreement, the cuts will go into effect December 31. There remains but one fly in the ointment for the airline -- its pilots have refused to agree to similar cuts.

FMI: www.comair.com