A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 aircraft lands at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, May 7, 2023.
Nicolas Economou | Nurfoto | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines and the pilots' union are nearing a new contract that would raise wages for the airline's more than 11,000 pilots and end months of contentious negotiations weeks before the crucial holiday season.
The company and the union have reached an agreement on salary, pension and other issues but are working on an implementation schedule, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said in a message to its members Thursday.
Delta Airlines, United Airlines And US airlines have already finalized billions of dollars worth of labor deals with pilots this year, as unions pushed for pay increases, better planning and other improvements after the Covid pandemic derailed contract talks.
If a tentative agreement is approved by the board of the Southwest pilots union in the coming weeks, it will go to pilots for a ratification vote.
The union and the airline declined to provide details of the deal.
Southwest and the union are “working diligently to finalize the few remaining items,” an airline spokesperson told CNBC. “Southwest remains committed to reaching an agreement that rewards our pilots and positions them competitively in the industry.”
Southwest reached a tentative agreement with its flight attendant union earlier this fall that includes a 36% pay increase for cabin crew members.
A labor agreement between the company and its pilots would end a period of tense negotiations, which recently laid the groundwork for a possible strike, although strikes are extremely rare in the aviation sector.
It would also be the latest in a series of major labor deals this year, including deals between Hollywood studios and actors, and the studios and writers, as well as between automakers and the United Auto Workers union, following strikes.