'Agreement In Concept' First Major Break In Talks Since Jan. 2007

Pilots of Alaska Airlines, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA), have reached an Agreement in Concept with Alaska Airlines management on a new, four-year contract.

Details of the agreement are being withheld until the full language is reached and the Union's leadership votes to approve it as a tentative agreement. A tentative agreement must be approved by a majority vote of the pilot group before it can become the new pilots' contract.

"Alaska Airlines pilots have been working to negotiate a new contract since January 2007," read an ALPA release. "The pilots would like to thank the National Mediation Board and its mediation staff for its assistance in allowing this agreement to be reached."

As ANN reported, pilots at Alaska filed a request for mediation in the contract talks in July 2008.

ALPA represents 52,250 pilots at 35 airlines in the US and Canada, among them the 1,500 pilots of Alaska Airlines, including 60 currently on furlough.

FMI: www.alpa.org, www.alaskaairlines.com, www.nmb.gov