Negotiating committees from Southwest Airlines and the union representing its pilots have reached a conclusion on a new tentative agreement.
A spokesman for the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) confirms the two committees have struck an accord, and says the union's board of directors plans to meet on 14-15 September to "discuss the merits of the agreement".
Southwest pilots in June rejected a tentative deal reached by negotiators in March. Elements of that deal included limits on the number of foreign codeshares Southwest could pursue, and a requirement for union approval before the carrier could craft codeshare deals with domestic airlines.
During a first quarter earnings call carrier CEO Gary Kelly explained that while Southwest could not commit to a strict fleet count, there were certain targets related to fleet size in the tentative deal. If those targets were no met, Southwest had more "restrictions about how large our codeshare could be", Kelly said at the time.
Of the more than 95% of union pilots that voted, 51% rejected the deal. SWAPA represents close to 6,000 of the carrier's pilots.
After Southwest detailed plans to forge codeshares with Canadian carrier WestJet and Mexican operator Volaris, some Southwest pilots raised concerns about the proposed pacts.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
