United Airlines has reportedly offered its pilots the “richest” labor deal in history according to CEO Scott Kirby, a deal worth $8 billion, but pilots note there is still a wide gap between the two sides.
United Airlines Proposes $8 Billion Deal For Pilots
First reported by Bloomberg in an interview with Kirby and later confirmed by United, an offer has been put on the table that, per Kirby, exceeds the recent deal struck between Delta Air Lines and its pilots that will see senior widebody captains make up to $440/hour in gradual intervals over three years, a 34% raise over current levels.
“We have a deal on the table that would be industry-leading,”
Kirby refused to provide further details, beyond adding that it would add $8 billion in costs over the next four years.
United and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have been negotiating on a weekly basis for several months, seeking to hash out the details of a new contract. While United has already publicly stated it will match Delta’s contract, details have yet to be worked on concerning fringe benefits and other matters not directly tied to wages.
This was underscored by ALPA, who responded to the news with a cautionary update of their own:
“We have disagreed with the company on the costing of items and they, in our opinion, have inflated many. We still have significant quality of work life [balance], sick leave, long-term disability issues open.”
This isn’t the first time Kirby has claimed an “industry-leading” deal is on the table:
For Scott Kirby to suggest the best contract in the world has been offered is misleading.@united @ALPAPilots #ContractFirstUnitedNext #UnitedPilotshttps://t.co/KMIQ1eZzlx pic.twitter.com/lYdfbAl1M1
— United Airlines Pilots (@UnitedPilots) May 24, 2023
These negotiations come at a time of strong demand for air travel and a forecast of record profit for the summer. Even so, Kirby has said that business travel is still lagging in 2023, perhaps representing a structural change in travel, although partially offset by increased demand for leisure premium travel.
CONCLUSION
United Airlines CEO Kirby has publicly stated United has now offered a pilot contract more lucrative than Delta recently struck with its pilots. Even so, it appears that the union representing pilots and United still have many details to hammer out before pilots vote on ratifying a new contract.
While economic tradewinds persist and core inflation remains a persistent concern, the resilient US economy makes this a golden opportunity to make up for years without a new contract.
image: @UnitedPilots / Twitter
Unless an AIP is reached all this is is Kirby doing an end run around the negotiating committee and trying to negotiate in public which is a really really bad faith move in the airline world. He might have blown up chances for an agreement for several months. This is rhetoric reserved for AFTER an AIP is reached, a TA is carefully crafted and the pilot voting window is open.
Bad faith on both parties maybe? Pilots pull all kind of bull too. Own it!
Doesn’t matter really in terms of this discussion , simple fact of the matter is Kirby single-handedly just poisoned the negotiations in the near term. Either way for any contract the devil is in the details, you should know this!
As usual for Mr K, Open Mouth, Insert Foot. He never learns. Though is ability to manage the airline may be superb, he cannot manage his mouth.
Does Kirby not have a PR advisor to tell him to slow down the superlatives? He just sounds silly doing it: Best and biggest in the world, safest systems in the world, richest deal in history… Did DL and AA have to resort to public proclamations like this to coerce the pilots?
I imagine all airline CEOs are telling Boeing/Airbus the next gen of planes need to be single pilot. Sorry, $450 an hour to have the auto pilot do 90% of the work is Insanity.
Just as insane as for decades getting away with subcontracting half their flying out, whipsawing one regional against another while all playing off the mainline pilot groups resulting in making it a miserable underpaid profession. So much so no one aspired to be an airline pilot hence the shortages, hence the lucrative deals being inked now. This is nothing but the pendulum swinging to the other side.
$300 an hour to fly 80 hours a month. Those poor, poor pilots are hurting so much.
No one wanted to be a pilot because 1500 hours is an arbitrary rule that does nothing for safety. So much so, the airlines realized they need to buy their own flight schools.
John
When I was hired at the regionals you needed far more than 1500 hours. The era of getting hired with anything less than that was a small “blip” from 2006-2011 ish. So somewhat of a straw man argument. Again just the pendulum swinging after decades of it being in management’s favor, I’m sure it’ll swing back the other way before long. Should UA pilots not try to match what Delta pilots’ got, or should they just say “naw we are good with what we’ve got”?
Great, took me 7+ to become an engineer. I don’t gripe about it.
Face it, pilots on have these contracts because the tax payers bailed you out. Three. Separate. Times.
The crony capitalism needs to end.
Took you 7 yrs to be an engineer huh, with no gripes!? Good! Then you shouldn’t have a problem with pilots gaining 1500 hrs (2-3 yrs) to be employable…in fact with your level of envy displayed towards them you’d think you would want them to gain even more yrs of experience than that! You are not making any sense, just full of envy and anger.
The United pilot union (which I am a member) has been historically inept and grossly incompetent when it comes to getting a timely and fair contract. We have been FOLLOWERS for 30+ years. Follow Delta, follow American, wait for SouthWest etc…
To quote a famous CEO, “pilots, as individuals, are smart people. Put them in a group and they become morons”