Last Stand Could Fell US Airways

Wallace Haber said he doesn't regret a strike by his union at Eastern Air Lines, though the carrier collapsed. But, he said, "It broke my heart. My whole life was wrapped up in that company." (Photos Phil Sears For The Washington Post)

Rock Underwood's world became a topsy-turvy chase for that one perfect job. First he went to what was then US Air. He was laid off from that work and went to Lockheed Martin Corp. Then back to US Air, then back to Lockheed when another layoff occurred. This back-and-forth went on for four years.

Finally, Underwood -- who worked in the engine overhaul shop at Eastern for 13 years -- got a job as a mechanic at United Parcel Service Inc., something he had thought about doing right after Eastern's demise. "I didn't want to go work for UPS because I thought it was just a freight carrier. Like a big brown station wagon compared to a sports car," he said.

Although he initially had to take a 40 percent pay cut, he has been with UPS for 10 years and has been a supervisor for the past three.

Gray eventually landed on his feet, too, buying and selling real estate in Florida. He counts himself among the lucky ones. "There were some that didn't even survive it. If you can't bend, you break. And some people did," Gray said, citing suicides and health problems among former colleagues. "That's the human toll."

Many Eastern veterans ended up at other airlines, some making higher salaries than they had made in their old jobs. After a stint making $5 an hour at a department store, Ramirez became a manager at a cargo transport company at nearly double his $18-an-hour Eastern wage.

Dave Crowther, 58, who had made $70,000 a year as an Eastern pilot, had the opposite experience. In 1990, he was offered a job with a charter air company for $35,000 a year. "I said, 'Hell, no. I'm worth more than that," the Purcellville resident explained. "Three years later, I said, 'You bet.' "

In between, Crowther -- who now works in real estate -- did odd jobs to make ends meet, everything from bartending to yardwork.

If US Airways workers end up losing their jobs, they could be in for a similarly rough transition. With airline employment rolls contracting and factories closing, there are relatively few high-paying jobs available for former pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers and mechanics.

Paul Villella, president and chief executive of HireStrategy Inc., a Reston-based staffing firm, said that many ex-machinists should be able to find their way "into reasonably paying jobs in the construction industry."

But there will also be some who end up in lower-paying service jobs.

"For most people, they're not going to do as well when the airline goes down as they do now," said Craver, the GW professor.

Of course, if the machinists accept US Airways' proposed contract, they won't be making as much as they do now, either, and some will lose their jobs entirely. That, Craver said, is why the machinists face such a tough decision.

More than a decade and a half after the Eastern machinists set up their picket lines, Haber feels no regret about his decision to strike. But it wasn't without consequences.

"It broke my heart," he said. "My whole life was wrapped up in that company."

Haber still has a large collection of Eastern memorabilia to remind him of his time there. He even keeps an Eastern bumper sticker on his car, all these years later. Most of the words are still clear, but the last has all but faded away.

"Eastern -- Gone but not forgotten."

Staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.