American Airlines Pilots Want 20 Percent Salary Boost

American Airlines pilots are looking for a 20.4 percent pay increase over the next three years – that figure is non-negotiable, says the president of the Allied Pilots Association union.

“If it’s less than 20 percent, I don’t think our pilots would accept it,” Captain Ed Sicher told Forbes Magazine.

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Sicher said he is also seeking a steady, more uniform schedule at a time when the pilot shortage is hitting all airlines and pilot fatigue is becoming more and more of an issue.

“They’ve been running my pilots ragged,” Sicher said. “In order to create schedule certainty and reliability in the fall and winter holiday schedules, management needs to get a tentative agreement in the next 30 to 60 days. Right now, things are moving.”

Forbes noted that, currently, pilots with at least 12 years’ experience flying narrowbody equipment and flying an average of 80 hours a month earns a little more than $267,000 a year. A pilot working the same number of hours with the same amount of experience flying a widebody makes $329,000 annually.

It appears to be a situation of who will blink first, as the two sides do not see to be too far apart. The union wants 20.4 percent. Forbes said an American Airlines spokesman revealed that the airline “offered base pay increases of 16.9 percent through 2024, as well as increases to many other pay components such as per diem and training pay, and a 50 percent premium on all reassignments.”