He lost his word, bowed his head and turned both thumbs toward the floor. Finally, Northwest ticketers found a flight leaving later that day that would carry him to the west coast, then into Seoul, Taiwan and Tokyo. While most rerouted fliers seemed calm, ticket agents said they expected tempers to flare when weekday business travelers glut airports Monday and Labor Day weekend travelers take to the air later this week. Friday night at O'Hare, three engineers trying to get back to Taiwan nervously watched the Northwest monitors as their flight number disappeared from the monitors. Frank Lu, Cheng Scout and Lester Chou had come to Chicago on business and didn't comprehend why pilots would pull over their planes, refuse to fly and walk around in circles with signs.
People there work and they just work.
Just 25 passengers spread out among the 160 seats. Flight attendants and pilots wore union buttons and chatted about the impending strike. Minutes later, news reports of the walkout flashed on TV screens. Her attitude about getting home today was exactly the one Northwest is looking for.