Rank-And-File Vote To Take Place This Month

Pilot leaders at Spirit Airlines, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, have approved a five-year tentative agreement (TA) on a contract with significant pay raises, job security provisions, and improvements in retirement and insurance benefits. A membership vote on the TA will take place next month.

“This tentative agreement represents a positive step toward recognizing our pilots’ contributions to the airline,” said Capt. Stuart Morrison, chairman of the Spirit unit of ALPA. “The agreement significantly increases our annual compensation and maintains important quality-of-life protections. It should also ensure that our airline is better able to attract and retain the best pilots available.”

Spirit Airlines’ TA with ALPA includes an average 43 percent increase in pay rates on date of signing, double-digit direct contributions to pilots’ retirement plans, and $75 million in ratification compensation.

“Now, the tentative agreement goes to all Spirit pilots for a vote,” said Morrison. Spirit ALPA will hold a series of membership meetings beginning February 5 to explain the TA to pilots. Voting will begin on February 7 and close on February 28, and a majority is required to ratify the contract.

The parties had been in negotiations for nearly three years, with a contract amendable date of August 2015. The two sides met with the National Mediation Board January 8–12 at ALPA’s headquarters in Herndon, VA, where they reached the Agreement in Principle that became this TA.

(Source: ALPA news release)

FMI: www.alpa.org