County’s One and Only Lasted 21 Years : AirCal Vanishes--Absorbed by American

AirCal, the only commercial airline based in Orange County, disappeared from the ranks of the nation’s air carriers Wednesday, merging into American Airlines 21 years after its founding in Newport Beach.

There were a few tears, especially among some of the administrative employees at AirCal headquarters, but mostly Wednesday was a time for toasts and merrymaking by officers and employees of both AirCal and American, which paid $225 million to acquire one of the few regional airlines left in Southern California.

“AirCal” signs at airport terminals throughout the West were taken down Tuesday night, and decals on the company’s jets have been replaced with American logos--done in AirCal’s purple, plum, orange and yellow color scheme.

American officials said they aren’t sure yet how many of AirCal’s 39 jets the company will keep, so they didn’t want to spend money repainting them all with American’s red, white and blue stripes.

American, which feted AirCal’s administrative employees at a reception Tuesday night, held formal “changeover” ceremonies Wednesday at the Los Angeles and Orange County airports. It plans to do the same today in Vancouver, British Columbia, where it will take over AirCal’s ticket and check-in counter and begin flying for the first time to that Canadian city.

“This is the day we have been awaiting since our announcement of the merger last November,” said Joe D’Ambrosio, vice president of American’s western division.

The merger generally has been seen as a good opportunity for both companies. It gives American the dominant presence that it had lacked on the West Coast, and it gives AirCal employees more job security in an industry where regional airlines are having a tougher time competing with the giants.

Ironically, AirCal--founded in 1966 by a group of local businessmen who were upset because just one airline was serving Orange County and none of the others wanted to--has disappeared because competition for the routes it served has become so intense.

American has picked up all but about 200 of 3,700 AirCal employees. Most of those who did not switch over simply did not want to relocate, said James Miller, AirCal’s director of personnel and one of those who chose to stay behind.

“I’ve been in Southern California for 10 years now--eight of them with AirCal--and I’ve been spoiled,” Miller said.

“I would have had to go to Dallas or Tulsa if I wanted to be an officer in American, but I didn’t want to move.”

Nearly all of the AirCal employees who agreed to relocate--mainly reservation clerks--have already moved to their new jobs with American in various parts of the country, said Bill Bell, an AirCal vice president for corporate and public affairs. Bell also refused to relocate.

AirCal’s unionized employees--pilots, flight attendants and maintenance workers--are staying put for now, Bell said, although American may relocate them in the future.

Miller and a few AirCal employees will continue working through July to wind up the business. Their tasks will include closing down pension and profit-sharing plans--transferring accounts to American or to other plans designated by former employees--and cleaning up payroll and personnel records.

Though AirCal’s staff was large, “many of them were long-term employees and we were very close--like a family,” said Peggy Olson, an AirCal corporate executive assistant, who also chose to stay in Orange County with her family.

Over lunch recently, she and others decided to form an AirCal alumni group and quickly picked up support from 600 fellow workers who will be listed in an address book.

“We’re hoping that once the merger is complete, we can get together and come up with ideas,” she said. “We hope to put on a picnic next July.”