Release #: SPA 18.01
January 31, 2018

Spirit Pilot Leaders Approve Terms of Tentative Agreement

Five-year contract now goes to pilots for a vote

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Pilot leaders at Spirit Airlines, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, approved a five-year tentative agreement (TA) on a contract with significant pay raises, job security provisions, and improvements in retirement and insurance benefits. A membership vote on the TA will take place next month.

“This tentative agreement represents a positive step toward recognizing our pilots’ contributions to the airline,” said Capt. Stuart Morrison, chairman of the Spirit unit of ALPA. “The agreement significantly increases our annual compensation and maintains important quality-of-life protections. It should also ensure that our airline is better able to attract and retain the highest quality of pilots available.”

Spirit Airlines’ TA with ALPA includes an average 43 percent increase in pay rates on date of signing, double-digit direct contributions to pilots’ retirement plans, and $75 million in ratification compensation.

“Now, the tentative agreement goes to all Spirit pilots for a vote,” said Morrison. Spirit ALPA will hold a series of membership meetings beginning February 5 to explain the TA to pilots. Voting will begin on February 7 and close on February 28, and a majority is required to ratify the contract.

The parties had been in negotiations for nearly three years, with a contract amendable date of August 2015. The two sides met with the National Mediation Board January 3–12 at ALPA’s headquarters in Herndon, Va., where they reached the Agreement in Principle that became this TA.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing more than 59,000 pilots at 33 airlines in the United States and Canada, including the over 1,800 pilots of Spirit Airlines. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org or follow us on Twitter @WeAreALPA. 

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CONTACT: ALPA Media, 703-481-4440 or Media@alpa.org