Horizon and IBT Reach Tentative Agreement on Pilot Contract

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Sep 17, 2010, 04:15 ET

WILMINGTON, Ohio, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Horizon Air and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) jointly announced today that, with the assistance of federal mediation, they have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract for the airline's 673 pilots.

The IBT expects to be ready to present the details of the agreement to Horizon's pilots by late October. The ratification vote would take place immediately following.

No details about the contract terms will be released until the conclusion of the voting process.

"The Union leadership and negotiators worked very hard to finalize the provisions in this tentative agreement. I thank and congratulate the negotiating teams on both sides for their collaborative efforts. While the agreement is still contingent upon the membership's vote to ratify the contract, I believe that it adequately provides for the Company's needs and also recognizes the very high level of service and professionalism the Horizon pilots provide," said Joe Muckle, Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 President.

After years of negotiations, in January 2010 both Horizon and the IBT requested federal mediation to work through the remaining open items. In June, an agreement in principle was reached, and the negotiation teams spent the subsequent months finalizing the details.

"The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has been negotiating for the Horizon Air pilots since March 2006, and the industry landscape has changed dramatically during that time," said Captain David Bourne, Teamsters' Airline Division Director. "This is a good agreement with significant quality of life improvements and other incentives."

Per federal law, airline contracts don't expire. An existing contract remains in effect after the amendable date until a new contract is agreed to by the negotiating teams and ratified by represented members.

Horizon serves 45 cities throughout California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Baja California Sur (Mexico), and British Columbia and Alberta (Canada). Together, Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines serve more than 90 cities and are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE: ALK).

The Airline Professionals Association, Teamsters Local 1224 represents the flight deck crews of ABX Air, Atlas Air, Arrow Air, Cape Air, Gulfstream, Horizon Air, Kalitta Air, Miami Air, Omni Air, Polar Air Cargo, Southern Air and USA 3000. Teamsters Local 1224 was charted in 1994.

SOURCE Teamsters Local 1224