Southwest pilots ratify labor deal

Southwest Airlines pilots represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn. ratified the five-year labor agreement reached in mid-September.

The contract runs through Aug. 31, 2011, and was ratified by 87.5% of voting members. The union said more than 93% of the approximately 5,900 members participated. The vote concluded a process that began in September 2006.

"Our pilots are the hardest working and most productive in the business and deserve a contract that reflects this, yet is still in keeping with the current uncertain economic outlook," SWA Chairman, President, and CEO Gary Kelly said. "After we voted down the first agreement in June, we returned to the table to address areas our membership felt needed improvement," SWAPA President Carl Kuwitzky said. "We were able to negotiate positive changes in many of those areas, including scheduling flexibility and codeshare protections."

Separately, SWA launched service from Milwaukee to Baltimore (thrice-daily), Kansas City (thrice-daily), Las Vegas (twice-daily), Orlando International (twice-daily), Phoenix (daily) and Tampa (daily) on Sunday (ATWOnline, May 21).