United Pilots Approve 40% Pay Hike In the Largest Contract In US Airline History

By 

BILL MCCOLL

 

Published September 29, 2023

Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• United Airlines pilots voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new contract valued at $10.2 billion, the largest ever for any U.S. airline.
• The four-year agreement increases total compensation by as much as 40.2%.
• United joined American Airlines and Delta Air Lines in striking a deal with their pilots, leaving Southwest as the last of the four biggest U.S. carriers without one.

United Airlines (UAL) pilots have approved a new contract valued at $10.2 billion, the largest for any U.S. airline in history.1

The four-year deal provides for a cumulative rise in total compensation as high as 40.2%. The Airline Pilots Association, International union (ALPA) explained that 82% of United’s 16,000 pilots voted in favor, with 97% casting ballots.2

ALPA indicated the agreement includes “an industry-leading increase” in pay, as well as “quality of work-life and work rule improvements, sick leave and vacation improvements, and an increase in retirement benefits.”

It went into effect Friday and runs through Sept. 30, 2027.

United joined rivals American Airlines (AAL) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) in inking new contracts with its pilots this year, leaving Southwest Airlines (LUV) as the last of the four biggest U.S. carriers to come to an agreement.34

Shares of United Airlines Holdings were little changed.

United Airlines pilots ratified a new contract that their union says is worth more than $10 billion

AP Finance
Fri, September 29, 2023

 Pilots at United Airlines are in line to get big pay raises over the next 18 months. Pilots at United Airlines have ratified a new four-year contract. Their union said Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, the deal will raise pay and improve benefits, and is worth more than $10 billion.

CHICAGO (AP) — Pilots for United Airlines have ratified a new four-year contract that their union says is worth more than $10 billion.

The union previously said the deal would raise pay by up to 40% over four years.

The Air Line Pilots Association said Friday that 82% of pilots who took part in the voting favored the agreement.

Garth Thompson, leader of the union's United group, called it an industry-leading contract that “brings substantial benefits to our pilots.”

United joins Delta Air Lines and American Airlines in nailing down new contract pilots that remove a source of friction with a key labor group but will add significantly to the carriers' costs. Pilots at Southwest Airlines, who are represented by a separate union, are still in negotiations, as are flight attendants at several airlines.

The pilots' union said the United contract includes industry-leading increases and improvements in work rules, sick leave, vacation time and retirement benefits. United has about 16,000 pilots.

The contract will run through Sept. 30, 2027.

United Airlines' pilots accept new labor contract

Reuters
Fri, September 29, 2023 

United Airlines pilots protest for a new contract in downtown Chicago

(Reuters) - United Airlines' pilots have ratified a new four-year contract that includes a significant pay increase and other benefits, the union representing the pilots said on Friday.

A committee represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) reported 82% of the airline's pilots voted in favor of a new comprehensive working agreement that adds more than $10 billion of value to the existing contract.

About 97% of eligible pilots participated in the ballot.

The pilots will get a cumulative 34.5% to 40.2% increase in pay in the new four-year contract, as well as better work-life quality, sick leave, work rule and vacation improvements, and an increase to retirement benefits for United's 16,000 pilots.

The Chicago-based carrier's shares were up 1.5% in morning trade.

Pilot shortages in the United States have been persistent and are expected to last for years after many aviators left the industry during the pandemic. Analysts at Jefferies estimate the United States has a shortage of about 10,000 pilots.

As travel rebounds, airlines are now rushing to staff up, increasing pilots' bargaining power. ALPA last year rebuffed an offer from United, forcing the airline to improve its terms.

Earlier this year, Delta Air Lines' pilots ratified a new contract that includes over $7 billion in cumulative increases in wages and benefits over four years.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain and Shivansh Tiwary; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)