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Spirit Airlines pilots ratify 4-yr contract
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - The pilots union at Spirit Airlines on Monday said its members ratified a four-year contract with the low-cost carrier that includes a 20 percent pay raise in the first year.
The Air Line Pilots Association said the new contract also includes improvements in vacation and sick leave, increased per diem rates, better coverage for moving expenses and increased pay for training and travel.
Salary levels for the 300 pilots at privately held Spirit, which competes with low-cost carriers like JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU.O and Southwest Airlines Inc. LUV.N , were relatively low under the old contract compared to what their peers make, ALPA spokesman John Perkinson said.
Under the new contract, Spirit captains will earn between $55,000 and $120,000 in the first year, with increases of 2 percent in both the second and third years of the contract and a raise of 10 percent in the final year, Perkinson said.
First officers will earn between $33,000 and $62,000 under the new agreement, with slightly higher raises than captains on a percentage basis during the life of the contract, he said.
The union also said the cost of health benefits was locked in at current levels, and those costs cannot increase more than the rate of inflation as measured by the consumer price index under the new contract.
About 70 percent of the 277 pilots who voted supported the new contract, Perkinson said.
David Sytsema, head of Spirit''s ALPA unit, said in a statement that pilots were pleased with the new contract.
Spirit''s pilots and management began contract talks in late August, about five months prior to the Jan. 31 amendable date of the most recent agreement. Spirit pilots ratified their first four-year contract with the airline in March 1999.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Spirit operates a fleet of MD-80 and DC-9 aircraft with 100 daily departures to destinations in the United States and the Caribbean.
Pilots at bankrupt No. 2 U.S. carrier United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp. UAL.N , have taken a temporary 29 percent pay cut, while labor and management work out long-term concessions.
At the world''s largest carrier, AMR Corp.''s AMR.N American Airlines, pilots said recently they would begin negotiating contract changes with management as the airline fights to stay out of bankruptcy court, analysts said.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - The pilots union at Spirit Airlines on Monday said its members ratified a four-year contract with the low-cost carrier that includes a 20 percent pay raise in the first year.
The Air Line Pilots Association said the new contract also includes improvements in vacation and sick leave, increased per diem rates, better coverage for moving expenses and increased pay for training and travel.
Salary levels for the 300 pilots at privately held Spirit, which competes with low-cost carriers like JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU.O and Southwest Airlines Inc. LUV.N , were relatively low under the old contract compared to what their peers make, ALPA spokesman John Perkinson said.
Under the new contract, Spirit captains will earn between $55,000 and $120,000 in the first year, with increases of 2 percent in both the second and third years of the contract and a raise of 10 percent in the final year, Perkinson said.
First officers will earn between $33,000 and $62,000 under the new agreement, with slightly higher raises than captains on a percentage basis during the life of the contract, he said.
The union also said the cost of health benefits was locked in at current levels, and those costs cannot increase more than the rate of inflation as measured by the consumer price index under the new contract.
About 70 percent of the 277 pilots who voted supported the new contract, Perkinson said.
David Sytsema, head of Spirit''s ALPA unit, said in a statement that pilots were pleased with the new contract.
Spirit''s pilots and management began contract talks in late August, about five months prior to the Jan. 31 amendable date of the most recent agreement. Spirit pilots ratified their first four-year contract with the airline in March 1999.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Spirit operates a fleet of MD-80 and DC-9 aircraft with 100 daily departures to destinations in the United States and the Caribbean.
Pilots at bankrupt No. 2 U.S. carrier United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp. UAL.N , have taken a temporary 29 percent pay cut, while labor and management work out long-term concessions.
At the world''s largest carrier, AMR Corp.''s AMR.N American Airlines, pilots said recently they would begin negotiating contract changes with management as the airline fights to stay out of bankruptcy court, analysts said.
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It''s a sad state of affairs when only 70% of the pilots bothered to vote on their own contracts and pay.
01 AM WingNaPrayer wrote: 
