The union which represents pilots at American Airlines said on Wednesday that it had rejected a tentative contract with the Dallas Fort Worth-based airline which would have seen its members receive a 19 per cent pay rise over the next two years.
In a short tweet, the Allied Pilots Union said the tentative agreement had been rejected following a vote by the union’s board of directors. Fifteen of the 20-member board voted against the proposed contract.
Union negotiators have been hammering out a potential deal for most of the month, and the tentative deal was originally presented to the board last Monday. The board was legally required to wait at least a week before convening to discuss and vote on the tentative deal.
American Airlines had originally offered pilots a 16.9 per cent pay rise, which was eventually increased to 19 per cent. The union did not say what element or elements of the tentative agreement had been rejected by the board, but Allied Pilots president Ed Sicher said earlier this year that his members were seeking a 20.4 per cent pay rise.
“If it’s less than 20%, I don’t think our pilots would accept it,” Sicher was quoted as saying in August.
The Dallas Business Journal recently reported ‘turmoil’ within the union and claimed Sicher had questioned whether the union’s negotiating team had broken internal bylaws when it came to developing the tentative agreement with AA.
Along with a bumper pay rise, the union was also seeking a number of other concessions including improved trip construction and scheduling.
On Tuesday, United Airlines pilots overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement that had been put to a member vote. The Air Line Pilots Association is attempting to renegotiate the contract with United but claims the airline is deliberately stalling to see what its rivals are willing to offer their pilots.
