Looks like both sides are willing to talk and nego a possible extension. Maybe the extension was on the most popular list when gathering contract proposals from the membership. Also appears both sides want to see where they are with the numbers before committing full bore into an extension agreement. As long as both sides are not greedy, but fair, it should be able to make it. However, if either side wants to change anything else, it may have to be done in sec 6 nego's or a hybrid type of nego's on certain articles that both sides would be able to pick.
With what is going on with the world currently, I would think an extension might be the right choice. That is my opinion only. Here's the update from the AMFA National site:
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With what is going on with the world currently, I would think an extension might be the right choice. That is my opinion only. Here's the update from the AMFA National site:
| AMFA-SWA AMT Negotiations Update #1 |
[td] Aug 24, 2026 |
August 24, 2026 Participants for AMFA:Bret Oestreich – National President Earl Clark – Region I Director Wilber "Will" Abbott – Region II Director Louis Upchurch – Local 4 ALR Frank Suentzenich – Local 11 ALR Wayne Lampley – Local 18 ALR Ken Patrick – Local 32 ALR Lucas Middlebrook – Legal Counsel Peter Manikowski – Economist Participants for Southwest Airlines: Michelle Jordan - Mng. Dir., Labor Relations Kurt Kinder – VP, Maintenance Operations Don Roberts – Mng. Dir. Tech. Ops Production Rob Jones – Senior Lead Counsel/Chief Negotiator Kris Townsend – Sr. Labor Administration Manager Patrick Breit – Sr. Advisor, Financial Planning/Analysis Cristian Chaver – Sr. Mng., Labor Planning/Analytics Kevin Chen – Labor Planning/Analytics The AMFA-Southwest Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) Negotiating Committee (the “Committee”) is providing this update to the Membership at Southwest Airlines (“Southwest”). This is the Committee's only official source of negotiating communications. The Committee held a four-day collective bargaining session (August 18-21) with Southwest Airlines in Denver, Co. The parties began the process on Day 1 by discussing different paths and options toward a successor agreement to the Blue Book. The parties agreed to first conduct off-the-record exploratory discussions to determine whether an extension to the current agreement was a viable path. In support of this exercise, the parties negotiated and entered into a Protocol Agreement setting parameters for these off-the-record exploratory discussions. Either party may, if such exploratory discussions are unsuccessful, terminate the Protocol Agreement by written notice. Once terminated, the parties would proceed away from extension discussions and into a more comprehensive negotiation process. The Protocol Agreement also ensures that once either side terminates the agreement, everything discussed during the exploratory phase will be without prejudice to and not affect any future negotiation position. The parties spent the remainder of the week exchanging and discussing off-the-record extension “supposals” or non-binding proposals. The Company presented the first supposal, followed by a counter-supposal from AMFA, a counter from Southwest, and another counter by AMFA. The substance of these proposals was, pursuant to the Protocol Agreement, off-the record. However, the parties made progress with their respective supposals and will continue the exploratory phase during the next session scheduled for August 31 – September 2 in Chicago. We would like to thank all the observers that took time from their days to attend and experience the negotiation process. In addition, we would like to express our gratitude to the many members that reached out to provide their support during this first week of negotiation. Solidarity is our greatest strength. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your ALR if you have any questions. Fraternally, AMFA-SWA AMT Negotiating Committee |
