Travelers Breathe a Big Sigh of Relief

Diko Sevabian was sweating it out Friday night. Scheduled to fly an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles International Airport to New York to see his girlfriend, the Glendale resident had made no contingency plan to take another carrier if American had shut down due to a threatened pilots’ strike.

But when the strike was averted and American flights continued operating, Sevabian’s Valentine’s Day wishes weren’t ruined.

“She’s looking forward to seeing me. I’m bringing Dom Perignon to celebrate Valentine’s Day,” Sevabian said before boarding his flight.

Thousands of American Airlines passengers like Sevabian expressed relief late Friday night that their flights were not canceled when a strike that had been scheduled to start at 9 p.m. was scuttled by President Clinton. The strike would have shut down the entire airline, possibly stranding thousands of passengers and causing chaos and confusion at airports nationwide.

“You save money for a trip, and you think you’re not going, but now I know I’m going,” said Martha Dominguez of Hacienda Heights, who was able to board her flight on American from LAX to Chicago and then on to Puerto Rico.

Similar relief was voiced by some American employees.

“Of course we are happy; we don’t have to be on the street instead of in the cockpit,” said pilot Norm Jones. “But it’s been our position since July 1994 that this is a matter that must be settled through negotiations.”

However, some employees expressed frustration that a labor agreement could not be reached.

The 60-day cooling-off period ordered by Clinton “is a waste of time,” one American flight attendant said. “If the company didn’t negotiate in good faith for the last 60 days, what makes us think it will now?”

But while the nixing of the strike allowed passengers and employees to finally pursue their travel and work plans for at least the next few weeks, earlier Friday the scene was one of uncertainty and chaos. Many American passengers, not knowing if the airline would shut down, cut short their trips and returned home early for fear that later flights would not be available.

Dallas salesman Dan Cummins said he was intent on visiting his girlfriend in Chicago for Valentine’s Day but would have been in trouble if he got stranded and missed work on Monday. So he flew back early. “My boss is going to be mad as hell if I don’t get back on time.”

In the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, Natasha Civil, 21, said she could not get to New York to be with her boyfriend. “This has ruined my Valentine’s Day. My heart is broken.”

In Los Angeles, Jennifer Lischy gave up a long-awaited visit with her year-old niece to fly back to Dallas before a potential strike.

The 28-year-old Lischy, who spent the week in Santa Barbara planning her May 25 wedding there, was supposed to return home Sunday night from LAX after spending the weekend with her brother’s family in Los Angeles.

“I could have stayed and changed my reservations to another carrier, but then I would have had to fly from Los Angeles, change planes in Salt Lake City and then fly to Austin, and then drive three hours to get to Dallas. That was just too much,” she said.

Many passengers, worried earlier in the day about the possible strike, said they had kept in almost constant contact with their travel agents for most of the week.

But some rolled the dice and didn’t rebook their flights, hoping the strike wouldn’t happen or would end quickly.

Such was the case for Tom Fulton of Orange County, who took an American flight from John Wayne Airport in Orange County to Dallas, heading to his final destination in Washington.

Fulton said he hoped to return to Orange County on Sunday, but had yet to book a return flight on another carrier.

“I guess I’m in denial,” he said with a laugh. “I figure I’ll be able to get on another airline.”

As it turned out, many airline seats were scarce this holiday weekend, and passengers would have had a hard time rebooking on certain busy flights.

Travel agent Bev Zukow, owner of First Travel of California in Villa Park, said seats on competing carriers are practically fully booked into American’s major hubs of Dallas, Miami, Chicago and New York.

“Forget it,” she said. “Stay home and go to church.”

Elizabeth Elliott, a New York shoe company owner, was upset by the possibility of a strike. She said she had empathy for American Airlines employees who are not pilots and said the pilots and the company should be able to compromise. Elliott, who owns several shoe stores, including the Western Boot Clothing Co., left the Western Shoe Assn. convention in Las Vegas early to take a flight to Los Angeles in order to be able to return to New York before a strike.

“People in Las Vegas were panicking,” she said. “Many were leaving early because of the potential strike. I would have liked to have stayed longer.”

Times staff writer Marla Dickerson in Orange County and Times wire services contributed to this story.