Pilots, Pan Am Agree; Mechanics Threaten Strike

Pan American World Airways, threatened with a strike at midnight today by its mechanics, reached a tentative contract agreement Tuesday with its pilots.

Meanwhile, the airline and the Transport Workers Union, representing the mechanics, scheduled non-stop bargaining over a contract for 5,800 mechanics, flight dispatchers, baggage handlers and food service workers. The workers were threatening to go out at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

A union leader said such a walkout would shut down the financially ailing airline and halt 400 daily flights.

“I have reason to believe that Pan Am will not operate if the Transport Workers Union strikes,” said John Kerrigan, leader of the TWU airline division.

Pan Am has asked all of its 19,000 unionized employees for productivity gains and large reductions in pension and health benefits.

The airline had an operating loss of $106.7 million before taxes last year. It has not made a profit since 1980, and has cut more than 8,000 jobs in the last five years.

Pan Am Chairman Edward C. Acker said details of the 32-month pact with the pilots would be withheld pending a ratification vote next month, but he added that the pilots’ contract contained labor concessions that he hoped would set a pattern in negotiations with other unions.

Only the TWU has set a strike deadline, but Kerrigan said he had “a firm commitment” to honor picket lines from leaders of unions representing some 6,000 flight attendants and 5,200 reservations and ticketing agents.

Capt. James MacQuarrie, who represented the 1,478 Pan Am pilots in the talks, said they were convinced that sacrifices were necessary “to ensure the future health and profitability of the company.”

One union source, who asked not to be identified because talks were continuing, said the 800 flight engineers probably would follow the pilots’ lead.

A spokesman for Pan Am, Jeff Kriendler, said the airline could replace many of its ground workers with supervisory personnel if a strike occurred. But he said the airline could not operate if either its pilots or flight attendants stayed out with the TWU.

Kerrigan of the TWU would not say whether his prediction about shutting down operations was based on promises by other workers to honor picket lines.