Southwest Airlines pilots okay five-year contract, includes immediate 29% pay raise

Southwest Airlines pilots ratify contract

Southwest Airlines pilots approved a new contract with the Dallas-based carrier. But flight attendants for American Airlines are still fighting for a better deal. They say they haven't had a raise in five years.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines pilots have agreed to a new contract with the airline.

The Southwest Airlines Pilot's Association announced its members overwhelmingly approved a tentative deal with the airline, with 92.73 percent of voting members in favor.

The agreement includes a 29.15 percent pay raise on the day of ratification. Pilots would get four percent raises in 2025, 2026 and 2027, with a 3.25 percent raise in 2028.

The pilot's union says the deal also includes changes to scheduling, maternity and paternity leave, increases to retirement and more.

Southwest Airlines plane on the runway at Love Field in Dallas, TX. (File photo by: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

SWAPA president Captain Casey Murray warned members that it may take some time to get everything laid out in the agreement.

"The implementation of this contract will take some time to get right," said Murray in a statement. "But we will work with Southwest to make sure that all of the changes that improve our pilots’ quality of life take place as quickly as possible."

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines and the pilot's union have been negotiating over the contract for years. The previous contract became amendable in 2020.

The new contract runs through Dec. 2028.

Delta, American and United Airlines also reached an agreement with their pilots in the last 12 months.

Southwest Airlines flight attendants rejected a proposed contract agreement last month.