The discount carrier Spirit Airlines has reached a tentative contract with its 1,800 pilots that includes pay raises, job security provisions and a lift in insurance benefits, the pilots' union announced Wednesday.
The agreement, which faces a vote next month by Spirit members of Air Line Pilots Association International, appears to remove a major point of tension between management and the union, as the company expands its domestic and international route systems in a highly competitive environment.
Spirit representatives could not be immediately reached for comment. The National Mediation Board, which has been overseeing the contract talks, declined to comment.
Spirit's stock was trading up Wednesday by 44 cents, or 1.05 percent, at $42.27 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Last year, the company accused some pilots of conducting a work slowdown that led to widespread flight delays, cancellations and even a brawl by passengers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The company, which established its headquarters in South Florida in the early 1990s, serves 60 destinations in the United States, Caribbean and Latin America.
In a statement Wednesday, the union said pilots are in store for a 43 percent increase in pay rates on the day the contract is signed, as well as "double-digit contributions to pilots' retirement plans."
"The agreement significantly increases our annual compensation and maintains important quality-of-life protections," said Stuart Morrison, chairman of the union's Spirit contingent, in the statement. "It should also ensure that our airline is better able to attract and retain the best pilots available."
The union did not disclose salary figures. But during nearly three years of negotiations, the pilots insisted that Spirit should pay them at levels that parallel the rates earned by peers at larger airlines such as United, Delta and American. There was no immediate word on how close the union came to achieving that goal.
The union said it will start a series of membership meetings on Feb. 5 to explain the contract. Voting will run from Feb. 7 through Feb. 28.
