Pilots Demand a Larger Slice of Airline Pie
Cash-flush carriers are trying to seal deals with aviators, but unions want to make up for years of concessions.
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Last year, pilots at Delta Air Lines and Southwest overwhelmingly rejected proposed contracts and then elected union leaders who led them through earlier contract scuffles.
The message was loud and clear: It’s time for payback after years of sacrifice.
After pilots at American, the largest U.S. carrier, agreed to a long-term deal with hefty raises a year ago, some 34,000 pilots at the three next-biggest carriers moved to collect a larger part of now-record profits flowing into U.S. airline coffers. That strategy, based on pattern bargaining that unions have used for decades across many industries, is now taking shape.