Mesa Airlines ratifies new collective bargaining agreement

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Mesa Airline pilots, represented by Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA), recently ratified an amended contract.

“We are pleased with today’s results,” Capt. Andy Hughes, chairman of the ALPA Mesa pilots Master Executive Council, said. “This agreement delivers improvements in pay, vacation, and retirement, placing us in line with the rest of our peers and that’s what pattern bargaining is all about.”

Of Mesa’s 761 pilots, 58 percent voted in favor of the agreement.

The amended contract improves pilot scheduling, increases pay while eliminating base pay and stipulates that negotiations can begin six months before the amendable date. Pilots will receive a 1 percent increase during the negotiation process.

Negotiating the amended contract with management took more than six years including three months with the assistance of National Mediation Board.

ALPA hopes management will continue to work with the pilots.

Mesa Airlines operates as American Eagle, a regional branch of American Airlines Group, at its Dallas/Fort Worth and Phoenix hubs and as United Express, a regional branch of United Airlines, from its hubs in Houston and Washington Dulles.

Daily, Mesa Airlines has more than 600 departures from 124 cities in 38 states and Washington D.C. The airline also flies out of Canada, the Bahamas and Mexico.