The majority of American Airlines (AA) pilots have voted to ratify a tentative four-year contract with airline management that includes a 21% pay hike and work-rule changes aimed at ensuring more reliable passenger service and more predictable schedules for pilots.
The tentative agreement, reached Aug. 1 and valued at $9 billion, "is a big first step toward restoring the wages, benefits and work rules that were lost during the past two decades while our profession was under continuous assault,” Capt. Ed Sicher, president of the Allied Pilots Association (APA) union that serves about 15,000 AA pilots, said in a statement. He also said the agreement provides substantial monetary gains and quality-of-life improvements.
