Summary
- Southwest Airlines and SWAPA are near finalizing a brand new contract for pilots, ending months of negotiations before the vacation season.
- Southwest pilots are leaving the airline for other carriers as a consequence of lower compensation, with nearly 300 pilots leaving to date in 2023.
- The brand new agreement will cover payment, retirement, and other items, with each parties still needing to agree on an implementation schedule. A possible strike in the course of the holiday season may very well be avoided if the brand new deal is confirmed.
Southwest Airlines and the pilot union (Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, or SWAPA) are closing in on a brand new contract that will end months of complex negotiations just in time for the crucial holiday travel season. This latest contract would raise the payment for greater than 11,000 pilots working in the corporate, CNBC reported on Friday.
Near a brand new deal
With the Big Three carriers –Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines– having already reached latest deals with their respective pilot unions this yr, Southwest and SWAPA needed to get a brand new deal. The most recent contract between each parties expired in September 2020, and each side have failed to achieve an agreement on updated terms since.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying.
Furthermore, SWAPA representatives had said Southwest was now lagging in compensation for pilots, with nearly 300 Southwest pilots leaving the low-cost carrier to work for other airlines to date in 2023. Mike Santoro, vp of SWAPA, recently said,
As reported on Friday, the corporate and the union have now reached an agreement on payment, retirement, and other items. They continue to be to agree on an implementation schedule, in accordance with a SWAPA message to its members. In an announcement to CNBC, the airline said they
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying.
Each parties needed to get a deal done by Thursday. On November 28, Mike Santoro was quoted by The Baltimore Banner, saying,
An end to a possible strike?
These past few months have been full of tense negotiations and the potential for Southwest pilots striking. If that were to occur in the course of the holiday season, it might be the second yr in a row with a possible operational meltdown for Southwest. Last yr, the corporate faced a winter nightmare, with nearly 17,000 flights canceled last December.
What’s SWAPA on the lookout for?
Southwest Airlines pilots wish to update the terms of the collective bargaining agreement for the primary time since 2020. Among the many principal requests from the pilots is that they’re asking for barely higher pay than pilots at other carriers in america that fly Boeing 737 jets. Southwest is understood for under operating this aircraft model, and, as SWAPA states, the airline flies its planes and pilots longer per day on average.
Pilots are also looking to deal with the present scheduling system. This method has made pilots collectively lose over 30,000 days off as a consequence of “mandatory additional time.”
With the news of each parties reaching a tentative agreement, we must always soon hear more from SWAPA and Southwest Airlines.
What do you consider Southwest and SWAPA reaching a brand new CBA? Tell us within the comments below.