Contact: Brian Gaudet
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National Pilots Association Board of Directors Endorses Tentative Agreement: Next Step Ratification Vote
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 (Atlanta) _ After more than a day of deliberations the National Pilots Associations six-pilot Board of Directors voted to endorse the tentative agreement reached over the weekend by its negotiating committee and AirTran Airways (NYSE: AAI).
The tentative agreement will now be sent to AirTrans 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.
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 7-year first officers. These increases will put AirTran squarely ahead of Atlanta rival Delta Air Lines for narrow body flight crews. The new contract would also improve pilot pensions by increasing the companys 401(k) match to 2 percent by the end of the contract. While not getting 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 3 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, 2007 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.
