Strike Puts a Dent in Airline’s O.C. Operations

As flight attendants marched in a picket line outside the terminal at John Wayne Airport on Thursday, a steady stream of passengers slowly snaked its way up to the American Airlines ticket counter.

Some passengers waited patiently in front of the airline counter, seemingly oblivious to the strike by the flight attendants and confident that they would get their flight.

Others, however, scurried from airline to airline, hoping to snap up the few available seats.

Bob Heinicka, 62, of Seminole, Fla., wasn’t taking any chances on catching a flight to Tampa. After reserving a space on Delta Air Lines’ waiting list, he stood among the dozens of passengers at the American ticket counter to book a flight.

“They weren’t supposed to go on strike until Friday,” said his wife, Lois Heinicka, 61. “We thought we’d be home.”

Her brother-in-law, Tom Backe, 72, of Huntington Beach, tried to see the positive side of the disruption.

“If they don’t get on the flight, they’ll just come home with us,” he said, laughing.

A few minutes later, however, the Heinickas were booked on an American Airlines flight that ticket agents assured them would take off on schedule, one of the few that day that actually left with passengers.

Only three out of 17 American planes left John Wayne Airport with passengers, airline officials later reported.

Waiting in line for his 1:30 p.m. flight to Chicago, Walter Crawford of Westminster said he was not worried that the strike would cause any disruption to his schedule.

“I know from experience that if I can’t get on a flight, they’ll put me on another flight,” he said. “I’ll live with it.”

Tara Off, 26, who was originally scheduled to fly to Tampa on American, was re-booked onto a Continental Airlines flight--for an additional cost, she said angrily. Though she did not know the reason for the strike, she said the flight attendants “should be happy to have a . . . job.”

“There’s a lot of unemployed people that would be happy to snap up their jobs,” Off said. “I normally fly American, but I’m not anymore,” she added, hoisting her bags onto her shoulder. “They’ve lost my business.”

One level below, more than 50 American Airlines flight attendants, some carrying babies on their backs or holding picket signs, walked the picket line. Some had started at 6 a.m. They were joined occasionally by several of the airline’s pilots.

“They weren’t counting on so many of us (joining) the picket line,” said Jane Dineen, 38, a flight attendant from Laguna Beach, who said at noon that only three co-workers had crossed the picket line. “We have shut them down.”

Dineen said flight attendants have carried out “informational picketing” since Oct. 31 to warn passengers of the impending strike.

The flight attendants said they are upset over proposed job cuts and concessions that would reduce their pay and benefits.

“We know that we’ll have to pay for something, but they just wouldn’t budge on anything,” Dineen said, noting that the airline recorded profits in the last two quarters. “We think it amounts to pure greed. . . . We are not asking for the Earth, moon, and stars.”

Another picketer, Kelly Bridger, 26, of Fountain Valley, said flight attendants cannot be asked to do much more. “You’re already running around like a chicken with your head cut off,” she said.

Flight attendant Robert Tiritilli, 36, of Mission Viejo said his co-workers based in Orange County normally cooperate with management. “For this to come to a strike, with this group of people, is astounding,” he said.