American Airlines pilots have agreed to a new contract that increases total salary and benefits by a reported $9.6 billion over four years. The Allied Pilots Association (APA) represents some 15,000 American Airlines pilots and announced that the contract won the support of 72.5 percent of the members who voted. The deal calls for an immediate pay increase of more than 21 percent, with total increases amounting to more than 46 percent over the course of the contract term.
APA President Ed Sicher told Reuters, “It’s unprecedented and historic. For pilots, the biggest victory is not just the wages, but the work/life stuff.” APA maintains that 20 percent of the increased value of the contract come from quality-of-life improvements. Sicher cited the example of pilots receiving premium pay should American reassign them from a trip they bid on, or one they have asked to fly.
The deal is said to be a reflection of the increased bargaining power pilots have in light of the current pilot shortage.
This is good….meanwhile customers are still pissed at the terrible service and flight delays.
The pilots don’t have anything to do with that.
Some junior bases are going to have some junior captains.
It will make the argument even stronger for AI flown airlines. AI don’t strike, will work for electrons and only take off for the scheduled preventive maintenance.
It’s a great time to be an airline pilot. There have been times when it wasn’t so great like 15 yrs ago when pilots were taking pay cuts and being furloughed. I’m happy for them; they deserve it. There are inevitable ups and downs in an airline career and right now it’s really, really up. But it will go down again as it always does.
And the great debacle continues for most everyone but a few senior pilots, some lawyers, and others living off the fat skimming union system.
Are pilots still only allowed to “work” (log flight time) 20 hours a week? Something doesn’t add up here. $9.6B / 4 years / 15000 pilots / 1040 flight hours per year comes out to $153 per hour. That’s the amount of the RAISE, “increases by”.
What’s wrong with my math? What did I miss? That’s a helluva pay raise, for anyone below VIP.