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American Airlines Reaches Deal With Pilots Union

American Airlines

The pilots union at American Airlines has agreed to put a five-year contract proposal up for a vote. The proposal would increase pay by about 26% and offer smaller raises in the years to come.

On Saturday, just before a deadline, the board of the Allied Pilots Association agreed to accept the basic terms of the deal before it expired and negotiations went into arbitration. The proposal must still be completed and voted on by the pilots, according to CBS Local.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”– American Airlines”]

We are pleased our pilots will have a chance to vote on a contract that provides an immediate 23% pay increase and recognizes their contributions at American.

[/quote]

The union, which represents about 10,000 American Airlines pilots and 5,000 US Airways aviators, had been under pressure to accept the deal by Saturday or lose a large initial pay raise. American, which merged with US Airways in December 2013, has also been under pressure as it attempts to meld the two companies with pilots from both subsidiaries at odds with management for more than a decade, according to the Wall Street Journal.

American is now the world’s largest airline by traffic. It previously reached a common contract for its 24,000 flight attendants and it’s working toward a deal for the rest of its unionized workers.

American is offering pilots a more than 18% pay raise retroactive to December 4, along with a 4% increase it announced last month for most non-union employees and any unions that reached a joint postmerger contract. The pilots will also receive an extra 3% increase retroactive to the beginning of 2015, which will be the first of four annual raises.

The goal of the deal was to raise the pilots 7% higher than wages of Delta Air Lines aviators, who have a profit-sharing plan, according to ABC News. American Airlines does not offer profit-sharing, saying it’s better to reward employees with industry-leading wages than provide lower wages that are supplemented by varying compensation.

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