United Airlines pilots made their new contract official on Friday, leaving Southwest Airlines as the only carrier of the four main domestic airlines still in negotiations.
United CEO Scott Kirby, who heads the largest carrier at Denver International Airport, announced the milestone in a LinkedIn post on Friday morning.
“I’m happy for our pilots who ratified an industry-leading contract today,” he wrote. “We are the largest and best airline in the world because of our people, and I’m happy to give them a great contract that ensures we can continue the United Next growth that is creating great careers for everyone here at United Airlines — and a great route network and customer service for our large and growing customer base.”
The company and the pilots’ union, the Air Line Pilots Association, International, reached the four-year agreement in July, which includes “a meaningful pay raise and quality of life improvements,” according to a statement by United. Pilots, who then needed to ratify it to make it official.
The carrier continues to negotiate with its flight attendants.
“We’re continuing to work with the Association of Flight Attendants toward an industry-leading agreement,” spokesperson Russell Carlton said in a statement earlier this month.
Southwest is the sole U.S. carrier still in negotiations with both its pilots and flight attendants, as Delta pilots approved a new contract in March and American Airlines pilots ratified their agreement in August.
“We continue meeting weekly with SWAPA (the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association) and our assigned mediators from the National Mediation Board as we collectively work toward a new contract that rewards our pilots,” Southwest said in an email on Friday. “We look forward to restarting negotiations with TWU 556 (Transport Workers Union of America Local 556) and the NMB in the very near future.”
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan pegged the timeline for wrapping those negotiations as “hopefully this fall” in a sit-down interview with The Denver Post earlier this month.
