Eastern Pilots Vote to Continue Strike : Stand Re-Evaluated in N.Y., Atlanta, Miami Meetings

Striking Eastern Airlines pilots in New York and Atlanta voted to continue their walkout against the carrier, while pilots in Miami voiced support for the 5-month-old strike.

The pilots met separately Sunday in the first of a series of local meetings intended to assess the mood of the union membership.

Leaders of the Air Line Pilots Assn. at Eastern voted unanimously Saturday to continue the strike, but the leadership wants to gauge the depth of support for that action within the rank and file.

The Miami Herald today quoted union sources as saying pilots in New York and Atlanta voted to remain on strike, but vote totals were not available. The meeting in Miami was recessed until Tuesday, when leaders expect to take a straw poll.

‘Not the Only Option’

“There are number of options before the (leadership council), and the options do include returning to work,” said a spokesman for the pilots union, who asked not to be quoted by name. “That is not the only option (and) it is not the strongest option.”

The pilots’ union has supported the strike, which was called March 4 by the International Assn. of Machinists, the union that represents the airline’s ground workers, and the union representing Eastern’s flight attendants.

Only about 200 of Eastern’s 3,500 pilots initially crossed the picket line, but Eastern claims that striking pilots have been returning to work in growing numbers. As of Aug. 1, Eastern said 367 pre-strike pilots were working.

The union spokesman said the re-evaluation of the strike was not prompted by pilot defections.

“I would not--I could not--characterize that as a reason for meeting,” he said. “I don’t think anything has brought this to the fore other than there are options before us.”

Rebuilding Schedule

Eastern, which was forced by the strike to suspend much of its service and file for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code, has since begun to rebuild its flight schedule, in part with replacement pilots.

If the striking pilots were to return to work, a key issue would be how many jobs remain at Eastern.

The airline says it has jobs for only about 1,700 pilots.

As of Aug. 1, the company had trained 291 replacement pilots to fly for Eastern, and another 750 new hires were attending training classes.