American Airlines plane
Silas Stein | picture alliance | Getty Images
American Airlines pilots’ union said Thursday that they agreed to a sweetened offer for a latest labor contract, lower than two weeks after a richer deal at rival United Airlines derailed voting at American.
The brand new preliminary agreement includes pay matching with United, whose pilots are on the right track to get about 40% raises over 4 years, and at Delta Air Lines, whose aviators approved their contract in March, in addition to other improvements. American CEO Robert Isom last week increased the corporate’s offer by about $1 billion.
“We appreciate the Allied Pilots Association for its collaborative work to succeed in an updated agreement on a four-year contract for American’s pilots,” American said in an announcement. “It is a contract we’re pleased with and one our pilots deserve.”
American’s pilots would start voting on the brand new deal in August.
The deal is the most recent within the transportation industry where staff are in search of, and getting, higher wages. A shortage of pilots has emboldened unions to hunt greater raises and other improvements after the pandemic stalled negotiations.
UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters earlier this week struck a preliminary labor agreement to lift pay for greater than 300,000 staff, a deal that averted a large strike that might have rippled throughout the U.S. economy. Staff will vote on that deal next month.
