The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association has reached an agreement in principle with Southwest Airlines after three and a half years of negotiating with the Dallas-based carrier, the union announced Tuesday.
The next step in the process will be an agreement evaluation by SWAPA's 25-member board of directors, according to the pilots association. A spokeswoman for the union said the vote would likely be in the coming days.
If approved, the union's 11,000-plus pilot membership will vote on the agreement.
"We are finally at a place where we think the value of our pilots and their productivity is being realized,” union President Casey Murray wrote in a statement on the union's website. “Our pilots and Southwest Airlines customers deserve security and confidence in our future and we believe that this contract achieves that.”
Southwest pilots join those with Delta, United and Fort Worth based American-Airlines, who all reached contract agreements this year.
"We are pleased to reach an Agreement in Principle with the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association for Southwest’s nearly 11,000 pilots," read a statement from Chris Perry, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson. "The AIP is a key milestone in the process, and we look forward to the next steps."
Details on the contract were not available as of Tuesday.
The agreement with its pilots association is not the only union agreement the airline has negotiated this year.
Southwest reached a tentative agreement with its flight attendants in October, nearly five years after their last contract expired. Transport Workers Union Local 556 members voted on the TA in December, but rejected the deal.
In a Dec. 13 video statement posted to the local's Facebook, Lyn Montgomery, president and lead negotiator, said a data leak undermined the TA voting results.
“The vendor, TrueBallot, admitted to the executive board, board of election and our attorneys, that their system was unsecured, leaving it open to vulnerabilities,” Montgomery said. “Because of this, the board of election was not able to certify the ratification vote."
TrueBallot president John Seibel told the Dallas Morning News that there was an oversight that allowed an unknown person to access members' names, emails and information on whether they voted. However, he said the integrity of the election was not compromised.
The flight attendant local plans to revote on the deal again, leadership announced in its Dec. 13 video statement.
Southwest also reached a deal with its mechanics this summer. Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 11 members approved the collective bargaining agreement in July that includes includes a more than 20.5% raise over three years.
The contract deal with Southwest's mechanics came after the carrier reported a $638 million profit in its second quarter this year.
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