Ratification Vote Scheduled For June 28

It took more than a day of deliberations, but the National Pilots Association's six-pilot Board of Directors voted Wednesday to endorse the tentative agreement reached over the weekend by its negotiating committee and AirTran Airways. The tentative agreement will now be sent to AirTran's more than 1,500 pilots for a ratification vote.

"The approval of the tentative agreement by the NPA Board was no slam dunk; in fact, it's a qualified endorsement predicated on the company providing the union with a series of 'questions and answers' that spell out the meaning and intent of several sections of the contract," said Capt. Allen Philpot, President of the National Pilots Association. "The board was very deliberate in its consideration of the deal hammered out by our negotiating committee and the company. While the board was satisfied with the pay and pension increases they had some difficulty agreeing to when the clock starts, meaning when a pilot starts getting paid."

With news of ratification also comes a few more details about the terms of the deal. If ratified, the new contract will initially increase pilot hourly pay to $160.60 per flight hour for 12-year captains from $152.57, and to $83.30 from $78.37 per flight hour for seven-year first officers. The union notes these increases would put AirTran squarely ahead of Atlanta rival Delta Air Lines for narrowbody flight crews.

The new contract would also improve pilot pensions by increasing the company's 401(k) match to two percent by the end of the contract. While pilots did not win all that they had hoped for in the scheduling section of the tentative agreement, the new contract does improve some work rules such as a two-for-one duty rig, meaning at least one hour of flight pay for every two hours on duty.

"One of the positive things about this new contract is its short duration," said Capt. Philpot. "The worst case scenario will have us back in negotiations within three-and-a-half years because of our six month 'early opener' provision, which will give us the chance to fix the scheduling deficiencies we were not able to improve in this contract."

Under the terms of the tentative agreement the new contract will become amendable on June 30, 2011.

The NPA will release the result of its ratification vote on Thursday, June 28 after a series of meetings in Atlanta, Baltimore and Orlando to educate its members on the terms of the contract.

"We want the pilots to fully understand what this new contract will mean to them and how it will impact their flying at AirTran," said Capt. Philpot

FMI: www.npa-atl.org. www.airtran.com