Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 aircraft as seen landing at dusk time at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport DCA in Arlington County, Virginia over the Potomac River in the United States of America flying over water and buildings.
Nicolas Economou | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines flight attendants would get 36% cumulative pay increases in a new five-year contract, according to details of the tentative agreement shared with crews on Wednesday.
The flight attendants are the latest aviation labor group to win proposed pay hikes after tense years-long negotiations for new labor details. Pilots, flight attendants and other airline workers argued they went years without raises after Covid derailed talks, and had pressed companies for higher compensation and better work rules as travel returned.
The new labor deal includes a 20% raise in January at the deal’s signing and 3% after, plus retroactive raises going back to late 2019, according to a union message to flight attendants.
The deal is still subject to ratification by the union’s members. Flight attendants are scheduled to start voting on the tentative agreement mid-November.
Southwest didn’t immediately comment. It is still negotiating with its pilots.
