SEATTLE (AP) - The Machinists union has a $140 million strike fund and can sustain support for striking Boeing Co. production workers for five or six months, President Tom Buffenbarger said Tuesday.

Speaking from the convention of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Orlando, Fla., Buffenbarger said support for the strike has been unwavering among delegates, even from local Machinists unions of airlines and other hard-hit sectors.

"This issue has united the convention," Buffenbarger said. The gathering takes place every four years.

Similarly, Marc Blondin, chief negotiator in contract talks covering 27,000 riveters, electricians, mechanics, painters and other hourly workers, said the strikers are prepared and resolved to stay out "as long as it takes" - a mantra on picket lines - to get an offer they're willing to accept.

On Sept. 3 union members voted 80 percent to reject a three-year package estimated by Boeing at $34,000 in average gains per worker -bonuses averaging $6,400, raises averaging 11 percent, pension increases and a 3 percent cost-of-living boost. They voted by 87 percent to strike.

The walkout began Saturday morning after a 48-hour contract extension in which a federal mediator tried without success to break the impasse.

Starting three weeks into the walkout, union members are entitled to $150 a week in strike pay. Average pay at Boeing is more than seven times that amount, although about 5,000 of the most recently hired employees get less than $32,000 a year.

"That fund gets replenished every month from union members who are not on strike," although less will be coming in than going out, Blondin said.

In the first impact on air travel, RyanAir announced that the strike had resulted in a six-week delay in opening a new hub from Edinburgh, Scotland, with service to 11 European destinations. The opening has been pushed back to Nov. 5, when aircraft from its existing fleet will be available, deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said.

Also on Tuesday, Triumph Composite Systems Inc. announced plans to lay off indefinitely at least 220 of the 550 workers at its Spokane plant, which produces air control ducts and composite floors for Boeing and other aircraft. Another 15 percent to 20 percent of the workers face layoffs if the strike runs past Sept. 21, personnel director Michael Schelstrate said.

Another former Boeing operation that now supplies parts for the company, Spirit AeroSystems Inc. of Wichita, Kan., announced Monday that weekly hours will be reduced for employees involved in making certain products for Boeing.