Southwest Airlines flight attendants have ratified a new labor contract.
The four-year deal will go into effect May 1, providing 22.3% raises immediately and $364 million in retroactive wages that will be paid out based on how much flight attendants flew during the more than five years of contract negotiations between the TWU Local 556 union and the airline.
Union members approved the contract, 81% to 19%.
The new wage rates will mean Southwest flight attendants are the highest paid in the industry, 14% more on average than Delta flight attendants, the TWU said.
"This new TWU contract has so many significant improvements that its impact will resonate across the industry as carriers like United, Alaska, and American bargain with their flight attendants, who have been in contract negotiations with the Association of Flight Attendants and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants for several years," TWU International president John Samuelsen said in a statement.
TWU 556 members had voted down two previous tentative labor agreements.
And elsewhere, contract negotiations have been acrimonious. Members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American, voted last year to authorize a strike. In February representatives from all three unions picketed at 30-plus airports, around the same time that Alaska flight attendants concluded a strike-authorization vote, with 99.5% voting yes.
Southwest Airlines flight attendants protesting at Washington Reagan National Airport. Photo Credit: Transportation Workers Union of America
Southwest said Thursday that in addition to providing industry-leading compensation increases, the agreement includes on-call scheduling improvements and other quality-of-life enhancements, including company-paid maternity and parental leaves.
"This agreement rewards our flight attendants and includes provisions that strengthen Southwest's operations," said Adam Carlise, the carrier's vice president of labor relations.