Eastern Cancels Contract for Strike Crews

MIAMI — Eastern Airlines said Wednesday that it has canceled its contract with Orion Air Inc. to provide strike-replacement pilots, but it pledged to remain flying in the event of labor troubles.

Eastern, preparing for tough negotiations with the machinists union on its expiring labor pact, had contracted with Orion in case its own pilots refused to cross picket lines, Eastern spokeswoman Karen Ceremsak said.

But U.S. District Judge Barrington Parker in Washington ruled in March that the deal with Orion violated the existing contract between Eastern and its pilots union. Replacements cannot be trained until a strike begins, the judge said.

Orion, based in Raleigh, N.C., is one of the largest U.S. operators of aircraft for the small package industry. Miami-based Eastern, the nation’s sixth-largest airline, is a subsidiary of giant Texas Air Corp.

The Transport Workers Union filed a similar suit in April, accusing Eastern of using its planes to train Orion flight attendants to break a strike.

Ceremsak refused to attribute the cancellation of the Orion contract to Eastern’s legal setbacks, however.

The contract was terminated “for sound business reasons,” said Ceremsak. “Beyond that I can’t elaborate.”

The decision to end the contract does not mean that financially troubled Eastern will shut down if the machinists walk out, the spokeswoman said.