Ailing airline plagued by sick days

A Midwest snowstorm and a crush of baggage caused widespread problems for airlines over the holiday weekend, but a flurry of sick days by US Airways flight attendants contributed to delays, a spokeswoman for the troubled airline said.

An unusually high number of US Airways flight attendants called in sick on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Amy Kudwa said yesterday.

The news infuriated Linda Carroll, a Scituate nurse whose canceled flight meant spending Christmas in Scituate instead of Florida.

''I understand that there are problems with the airlines, but a deliberate sick-in from these professionals really angers me," she said.

US Airways is bankrupt for the second time in two years, and the company says it has to significantly cut labor costs to stay afloat. On Thursday, the airline's reservations and gate agents approved a contract that cuts their pay by 13 percent, Kudwa said.

The airline's flight attendants and machinists unions are still without contracts.

Also over the weekend, thousands of pieces of luggage were separated from passengers. There were also an unusually high number of sick calls from ramp workers in Philadelphia, the airline's hub.

Because so many employees called in sick, the airline had to cancel 180 flights on Friday and 143 flights on Saturday, Kudwa said.

Yesterday, 36 of 1,200 flights were canceled.

In a message to employees yesterday, airline president and chief executive officer Bruce R. Lakefield chastised those who ''abused their sick leave."

''I have seen lots of 'excuses' for why people took it upon themselves to call in sick, such as 'low morale,' 'poor management,' 'anger over pay cuts,' and 'frustration with labor negotiations.' None of those 'excuses' passes the test," he said in a written statement.

''Not one person in management has taken any satisfaction from having to initiate pay cuts. . . . We would love to be talking about growth, profits, and pay raises," he said.

Kudwa said the sick calls were not part of an organized labor action. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents US Airways baggage handlers, and the Association of Flight Attendants also told the Associated Press that the sick days were not coordinated.

US Airways was not the only airline that had problems over the holiday weekend.

On Saturday, Comair, a Delta subsidiary, canceled all of its 1,100 flights because of a computer system malfunction, caused by the snowstorm in the Midwest. Flights resumed yesterday.

Christine McConville can be reached at cmcconville@globe.com.