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Southwest Airlines and Pilots' Union Reach Preliminary $12 Billion Labor Deal

The five-year contract, which includes a 50% wage increase and improved retirement benefits, will now go to a vote by the union's more than 11,000 members.

  • Southwest Airlines and its pilots' union have reached a preliminary agreement on a new five-year labor contract worth about $12 billion, ending three and a half years of negotiations.
  • The deal, which would raise wages by 50% over the next several years and increase retirement benefits, is similar to those secured by pilots unions at the three other large U.S. airlines this year.
  • The union's board unanimously approved the deal, and it will now go to the more than 11,000 union members for a vote, with a deadline of January 22.
  • If approved, the new contract would extend through December 2028, making Southwest the last of the four major U.S. airlines to reach a new deal with pilots.
  • Southwest's flight attendants rejected a deal earlier this month, sending negotiators back to the table.
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