American Airlines Inches Closer to Deal With Pilots

American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, according to Forbes magazine.

The news came down on Monday.

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Forbes said that union President Ed Sicher issued a notice to pilots that the negotiating committee chair presented a tentative agreement to the union’s board of directors. The message to pilots included a note that there would no comments “concerning the merit of the offer or proposal until after the board has acted.”

The current contract between American and its pilots included a clause that it would be amended starting in January of 2020, but the pandemic hit in earnest just weeks later, aviation tanked, and negotiations became as secondary priority next to saving the industry. At one point, capacity on flights dropped to just five percent of what it was prior to COVID.

The union was seeking a 20.4 percent pay increase over three years and, in what has become a hot-button issue over the last several years due to pilot attrition from the pandemic and mandatory retirement, better working conditions and scheduling.

“They’ve been running my pilots ragged,” Sicher told Forbes in a previous interview. “If it’s less than 20 percent, I don’t think our pilots would accept it.”

The board meets on October 31 to consider the proposal.