Pilots at Southwest Airlines have voted in favour of a tentative five-year contract after rejecting a previous tenative pactin June of this year.
More than 93% of pilots represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) engaged in voting, and 87.5% approved the agreement.SWAPA represents more than 5,900 pilots.
The union and Southwest managementhad been in negotiations since September 2006 after the pilot contract became amendable on 31 August 2006.
The new deal is active through 31 August 2011 but allows bargaining to begin in July 2011. Compensation will be among the union's priorities in 2011, SWAPA president Carl Kuwitzky says in a statement.
In the meantime, the new contract provides increased job scope protections, pay rate increases, retirement contribution increases, scheduling and quality of life improvements andnew procedures incorporating current technology,SWAPA says.
"This new contract rewards SWAPA membership for the company's past two years of profitability, while making a critical move to tie the next two years' compensation to the company's financial performance," Southwest says in a statement.
The deal also caps near-international codesharing at 4% of the company's total available seat miles (ASM). This is less than the 6% ASM cap included in the proposal that SWAPA pilots rejected in June.
While its SWAPA discussions have concluded, Southwest is still in negotiations with its appearance techs and stock clerks. Its talks with dispatchers will begin next month.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
