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.