SWAPA and ALPA-International reach seniority agreement

IFALPA Daily News_23 September,2011

A tentative agreement has been reached between the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA), the union representing Southwest Airlines Pilots, and the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA), the union representing the pilots of AirTran Airways. This tentative agreement would integrate the two groups' seniority lists. SWAPA's Board of Directors and ALPA's Master Executive Council both approved the agreement, allowing the membership of each Pilot's Union to review the proposed agreement and ultimately put it to a ratification vote. Southwest Airlines finalized closing of the acquisition of AirTran Holdings, Inc. on May 2, 2011. "The unions and Company negotiating teams never lost focus on the ultimate goal of creating an integrated seniority list and transition plan for our Pilots outside of arbitration," said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "All parties took ownership of their role in the integration of AirTran into Southwest Airlines, and I want to congratulate our teams for delivering what we feel is a fair and equitable deal for both sides”. Each Pilot group will now spend the next four to six weeks reviewing the tentative agreement before putting it up for a ratification vote. SWAPA represents more than 6,000 Southwest Airlines Pilots, and ALPA represents close to 1,600 AirTran Pilots.