BANGOR – The ability of Bangor International Airport officials to market the region to new carriers could be hurt if Comair’s 1,300 pilots continue their now 3-week-old strike, the airport’s marketing director said Tuesday.

Comair and its pilots union, the Airline Pilot’s Association, are at an impasse over pilot pay, hours worked and retirement benefits. The airline has been rerouting passengers on its parent airline, Delta, and other airlines with which it is partnered.

Russell said that other airlines at BIA have found seats to accommodate most of the stranded Comair passengers, but said Tuesday that the busy flying season beginning this week could make it nearly impossible to find enough seats to meet the demand. If that happens, and the strike continues, Russell said BIA could lose many passengers and make it even more difficult for Bangor officials to bring new service to the region.

“We’re disappointed that it has come to this,” Russell said. “These kinds of incidents rob us of growth that is essential to the airport, and it’s frustrating because it’s beyond our control.”

In a cruel twist of fate, Bangor’s loss could mean a gain for its biggest competitors – especially with the busy school break season coming up next week.

Other regional airports such as Portland have service with Delta, Russell said, and therefore would be logical locations for Comair to send stranded Bangor passengers. In such cases, Russell said, competitors such as Portland are able to show a boost in their passenger numbers because of Bangor’s strike-related decline.

The loss of passengers, which Russell said could easily reach into the thousands, comes at a time when BIA has shown continued growth in its passenger count. Potential airlines, he said, may not take the time to consider that any decline in passenger numbers is the result of a strike. That fact, he said, could cause some heartburn for BIA officials long after Comair and its pilots settle their differences.

“[The strike] will have an impact on our numbers, which are very, very critical to our ability to attract and maintain air service,” Russell said. “This is a business where decisions are made often and quickly, and mitigating factors don’t always receive the consideration that they should. So we hate to have any sort of dent in our flight numbers. It’s rather dispiriting.”

Comair flights normally departing from Bangor in a single day have room for as many as 120 people, and assuming capacity flights on the other airlines, BIA could stand to lose up to 840 passengers during the school vacation week alone.

Nick Miller, a Comair spokesman, said Tuesday that his company regrets the harm the strike is causing passengers, communities and small airports. “We realize that this work stoppage has inconvenienced our customers and the communities that we serve,” Miller said. “And we apologize for that.”

Miller said there have been no negotiations with the pilots union since the strike began March 26, and there appears to be no evidence that talks will resume soon. Despite published reports that Comair is losing upward of $4 million each day that the strike continues, Miller declined to discuss any losses the airline might be suffering. “We’ve not been discussing that, and those numbers will be released at the appropriate time,” Miller said. “And those numbers will be released by Delta.”

Attempts to reach a spokesman for the pilots union wasn’t successful Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Russell said the only thing BIA officials can do is wait and hope for a speedy resolution to the labor dispute. “Unfortunately, passengers could be diverted away from this market,” Russell said. “Comair is a substantial service provider to this market.”