The American Airlines pilot union says it has reached an agreement with the company on a new contract.
- They haven’t released contract details yet
- This still needs to go before the Allied Pilots Association board, and then to the membership
The APA Negotiating Committee and its American Airlines management counterparts have reached an agreement in principle on a new collective bargaining agreement: https://t.co/9MS1qDYAgF pic.twitter.com/POfFloWmW9
— Allied Pilots (@AlliedPilots) May 19, 2023
It’s believed that the contract is for four years, with pay rates comparable to Delta’s new deal (which we’ve already expected and the company had publicly committed to) and some improvements for pilots on scheduling (limitation on the kinds of trips the company can require pilots to work).
Delta’s pilot contract costs it $7 billion more over the course of four years. The exact costs to American isn’t yet clear because the details haven’t been released – although the increase likely wipes out the carrier’s current run rate of profits.
With pilots at American Airlines getting frustrated by the length of time to a contract, the Allied Pilots Association had taken a strike authorization vote, but wasn’t anywhere close to being legally permitted to strike because they haven’t received federal permission to do so.
Pilots at Southwest and United are both getting testy about new contracts, and this puts even greater pressure on those airlines. American Airlines is still in negotiations with its flight attendants and its passenger service agents.
great for AAL pilots. The pressure is on AA to settle w/ its flight attendants and also for LUV and UAL to settle w/ both groups.
This will be a costly agreement and I doubt if AAL would have settled if they didn’t see a path to continued profitability.
Given that AAL is paying down aircraft debt – even if it is also taking on airport improvement debt – they are likely in a far better position to take on the costs of a new pilot contract than UAL – which has more than 3X more aircraft expenses on order – than AAL or LUV which is not seeing the rate of revenue recovery that the big 3 global carriers are seeing.
Good for the pilots! They deserve it! Now to see the rest of the unions see the raises they deserve. Usually the pilots settle first, which sets a pattern of expectations for the other workgroups for both the Carriers and the union leadership.
Awesome news for AA pilots. Congrats to them!
Awesome news.
TIme to fire some managers to save costs. And a few VPs while at it.
…and if you’re the parent, relative, or friend of a high school or college age person. Let them know the coming shortage of pilots in the next ten years will guarantee them a great job with high pay. I see too many young people today majoring in some bull spit major (e.g. Sports Marketing) which will get them exactly nowhere.
Spread the word…us travelers need pilots…and young people need a great career. It’s a win-win!
Hoping that airlines go bankrupt, and/or hinting that it’s a possibility/probability for a company one apparently despises, is unseemly, IMHO.
@DesertGhost – I don’t see any such hope in what I have written in this piece or what any commenters have written? All I suggested is that while the airline may ultimately have had little choice (though it’s *possible* holding out longer would have led to some angry pilots causing disruptions but also an economic downturn that would have changed the contract calculus) this is a big cost increase for an airline that isn’t making very much money.
AA’s profit margins are now in line with DL and UA… AA’s domestic system is printing money, they have downsized domestically and internationally where it doesn’t make sense, and they have more strong hubs in the southern US than either DL or UA.
The narrative that AA can’t afford this contract is not accurate; the company wouldn’t have agreed if it was going to wipe out all future profits.
It is UA and WN that are far greater risk of having difficulty taking on extra labor costs – with different reasons for each
“shortage of pilots in the next ten years will guarantee them a great job with high pay.'”
Lol! This shows a total misunderstanding of the airline industry and the job market in general. A big downturn and half the pilots could be unemployed by Fall. The rest could see 50% pay cuts. Doubt this? I saw it in my pilot career.
The NEA has been blocked!
AA’s northeast strategy is up in the air again
Looks like it will be voted down since it does not match Deltas contract.
based on some initial posts leaked from discussions – usually valid – AA’s contract will be similar in gains to AA pilots as DL pilots got.
Given that AA had worse work rules than DL because the AA pilot contract was still heavily influenced by their bankruptcy contract, the 2 contracts won’t be identical even though AA and DL’s domestic network and business model is more similar than any other 2 airlines, AA pilots will see huge gains that will be very close to what DL got.
The pilots are highly unlikely to reject anything and start the process over again.
As was true w/ the DL negotiations, federal mediators look very unfavorably on rejection of a proposed contract that offers industry-competitive terms in hopes of getting just a little bit more.
Probably not! Its like a hotel with a nice lobby and dirty run down rooms. Window dressing!