One Las Vegas flight affected by sick-out

A spokesman for the airline said about 330 of the airline's 2,600 ticket agents and baggage handlers called in sick on Friday with the heaviest concentration in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.

There were 26 West Coast passenger flights and two cargo flights canceled on Friday, said airline spokesman Jack Evans. The company shuttled agents from Alaska and Seattle to cover shifts on Saturday and there were no other cancellations over the weekend.

A spokeswoman for the International Association of Machinists Air Transport Workers said talks with baggage handlers began in December 1996 and are now under way in Washington, D.C. Talks with ticket agents began last November.

American Airlines pilots were fined $45 million by a federal judge in Dallas for failing to obey a court order regarding a similar sick-out action in February.

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