Southwest Airlines pilots elected a new Union president for the 2007-2008 term in the Fall 2006 General Election that closed at noon Central Time on Oct. 18.

Capt. Carl Kuwitzky, 50, is a Dallas-based captain and has been at Southwest since 1983. He currently serves as vice president of the board of directors. He has served as a domicile representative for four terms, most recently for the Phoenix domicile in 2004 and 2005. He served on the Association’s Negotiating Committee in the mid-1980s. He received nearly 75 percent of the membership vote against one other candidate; he will take office Jan. 1, 2007 and serve a two-year term.

“I am looking forward to serving our pilots as president of SWAPA,” Capt. Kuwitzky said. “The next few years will be a very important time for our Union and I’m deeply humbled by the show of support that I received from the membership.”

Pilots at Southwest currently are in contract negotiations with Southwest Airlines. The Union president works with other board members to provide oversight for the contract negotiations process and the Association’s Negotiating Committee.

Pilot negotiators and Southwest Airlines Company officials began contract negotiations under provisions of the Railway Labor Act in August 2006. The current Southwest pilot contract amendable date was Aug. 31, 2006; contract terms, including an Aug. 31, 2006 pay raise, remain in effect until a new agreement is ratified.

Southwest pilots have been operating under a contract that was last negotiated in 1994 and then extended in 2002. The pilot negotiating team and the Company negotiating team have been preparing for upcoming talks for the past two years.

Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association Board of Directors is comprised of two full-time executive officers, including the president and vice president, and a part-time secretary/treasurer. The board also includes two representatives from each of seven domiciles (pilot bases) in Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Oakland, Orlando and Phoenix. Board members serve two-year terms. SWAPA, headquartered in Dallas, TX, is an independent union which represents more than 5,100 pilots of Southwest Airlines.

FMI: www.swapa.org