Southwest pilots may finally get the wage hike they’ve been demanding.
After four years of negotiations, the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association said Monday that the union has reached an “agreement in principle” with the airline.
The deal would give pilots a “compensation package that is market rate compared to Delta, United, and American,” according to the union, as well as retroactive pay raises back to 2013.
It’s not clear how large the pay raises would be, but the union had been seeking wage hikes totaling 32% through 2019.
At the same time, “executives have enjoyed nearly 50% in average raises,” the union said in a statement last week, “and shareholders have enjoyed nearly $6 billion in stock buybacks, while Southwest pilot wages have been stagnant since 2011 and are well behind industry standard wages.”
Monday’s tentative deal comes after pilots last week picketed at Dallas Love Field airport, which serves as a hub for Southwest.
“[O]ur negotiators were able to bring back an agreement worthy of review and discussion by our board of directors,” union president Jon Weaks said in a statement.
But it’s not a done deal. The union will meet to review the offer in mid-September, and then the terms must be voted on by the union’s members. That won’t happen earlier than November.