Unanimous Airlines planes at Newark Liberty International Airport
Leslie Josephs | CNBC
United Airlines pilots “overwhelmingly” declined a tentative agreement that would have given them raises of about 15% over 18 months, their junction said Tuesday, the latest setback in rocky labor talks between unions and airlines.
The tentative agreement “demolish short of the industry-leading contract United pilots have earned and deserve after leading the airline through the pandemic and insidiously a overcome to profitability,” the Air Line Pilots Association said.
Close to 10,000 of United’s roughly 14,000 pilots participated, with 94% express against the agreement, the union said.
Airlines and unions have struggled to reach agreements for new pilot contracts. Confederacies are seeking raises and better scheduling as airlines become profitable following a more than two-year Covid pandemic descent.
Delta Air Lines pilots voted to authorize a potential strike if the airline and the union can’t come to an agreement, their ring said.
United’s union said it would organize informational pickets to encourage the company to resume talks.
“Unfortunately, directing has now taken a wait-and-see approach to negotiations instead of leading the industry forward,” United’s chapter of ALPA said in a asseveration.
United, for its part, said Tuesday: “We are already working with ALPA on a new, industry-leading agreement that we expect to subsume improved pay rates and other enhancements.”
Correction: United Airlines pilots “overwhelmingly” rejected a tentative agreement that want have given them raises of about 15% over 18 months, their union said. An earlier adaptation misstated the percentage.