Flight Attendants Reach Back-to-Work Accord With Eastern

Eastern Airlines said today it had reached a back-to-work agreement with its flight attendants union, making the union the first to sign such a pact with the bankrupt carrier since it was crippled by a strike 11 months ago.

Under the pact, Eastern agreed to rehire 215 senior flight attendants by April 1 but can also protect the jobs of 1,900 flight attendants hired to replace striking workers, company spokesman Robin Matell said.

Eastern and the flight attendants’ Transport Workers Union local 553 signed the back-to-work pact 10 weeks after the union ended its strike against the Miami-based carrier.

The flight attendants union is the first of Eastern’s three unions to reach an accord to return to work, but union and airline negotiators must still agree on a new contract to replace one that expired in 1988.