American Airlines CEO vows to improve pilot pay as wages at other carriers rise

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said this week he would revise payment proposals for 14,000 pilots, admitting that payment standards have been raised since the latest pre-pandemic proposal.

Airlines based in Fort Worth, Texas, previously saw a 4% increase in signing dates and a 3% increase each year thereafter.So COVID-19 It has disturbed the industry and put the negotiations between carriers and trade unions across the industry on hold.

“We were the industry leader at the time we proposed,” Isom said in a video message to pilots posted Monday, reviewed by CNBC. “As the pandemic weakened, the standard of compensation went up.”

Isom’s message arrived a few days after two US subsidiaries, the regional airlines Piedmont and Envoy. Expanded big raise To pilots, including a temporary 50% wage increase by the end of August 2024, in the hope of alleviating the pilot shortage that is curbing growth plans.

United Airlines Last month became the first major career in a pandemic Sign a contract With its pilot union, the Airline Pilot Association. Union leadership will vote for the agreement next week. If passed, it goes to the pilot for voting.

“We will take into account the ratification agreements of other airlines, including United, and update payment proposals as soon as details are available,” Isom said. “Our team is well paid and competitive. We will keep up with our network peers.”

American pilots and other airline pilots deltaHas been picketing in recent months to protest the tight schedules sold by airlines to take advantage of the recovery in travel demand.

Dennis Tagger, a spokesman for the Allied Pilot Association, an American pilot union, said the company had to do more than raise wages.

“There is no balance between work and life,” he said Wednesday.

Without providing details, Isom said the new American proposal would include better benefits and quality of life provisions.