US Airways chief executive Bruce R. Lakefield thanked "all employees who have been working through a difficult time" as well as Mitchell for his "thoughtfulness."
The Alexandria courtroom was packed yesterday, mostly with US Airways retirees from Philadelphia who chartered a bus to the hearings.
US Airways' machinists are the only employee group that has yet to agree to concessions.
(Julia Malakie -- AP)
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Some retirees picketed outside the courthouse when Lakefield emerged and shouted at him before he was whisked away in a corporate van.
"How much of a pay cut are you going to take?" yelled Paul Illian, 62, a retired ramp supervisor who lives in Secane, Pa., and one of the organizers of the bus trip.
"You thought this Christmas was bad, wait until next year's," added Rogers Burns, 61, a retired fleet service worker from Philadelphia.
US Airways is still struggling to recover from the bad publicity during the Christmas travel weekend, when it had to cancel 450 flights and misplaced thousands of pieces of luggage. The airline blamed bad weather and workers who, it said, took excessive sick time.
Several retirees yesterday said they were faring better than current workers who have seen their salaries cut drastically. Late Wednesday, US Airways backed off from its plan to eliminate its retirees' medical benefits and agreed to continue paying a portion of their health care.
"We're here on behalf of them. These guys are going from $17 and $18 an hour to $7.50 an hour," Burns said.
Staff writer Griff Witte contributed to this report.
