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
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