Southwest Airlines, pilot’s union reach agreement on new contract

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DALLAS - Dallas-based Southwest Airlines and a union of the airline's pilots have reached an agreement on a new contract.

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association announced an "agreement in prinicple" has been reached.

The deal still must pass an evaluation by SWAPA's board of directors, which is expected to vote on Wednesday.

A Southwest Airlines passenger jet lands at Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on December 28, 2022. - The perfect storm of fierce snow squalls, howling wind and sub-zero temperatures forced the cancellation of thousands of fl

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The details of the deal are expected to be made public after that vote.

The agreement will then be voted on by the 11,000 pilots who make up the union.

"This AIP comes after three-and-a-half long years of negotiating. We are finally at a place where we think the value of our pilots and their productivity is being realized," said SWAPA President Captain Casey Murray in a statement. "Our pilots and Southwest Airlines customers deserve security and confidence in our future and we believe that this contract achieves that."

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The last contract ended three years ago.

Southwest is the last of the major airlines to reach a new deal for pilots.