Alaska Airlines and the union that represents its 1,465 pilots reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract that will reduce wages for captains and first officers by 20 percent, the two sides said Friday.
The tentative deal, if ratified by union members, would supersede a two-year contract imposed by an arbitrator that cut wages by an average of 26 percent.
The Air Line Pilots Association will submit the agreement for ratification once the contract language has been finalized, the airline said in a statement. Alaska Airlines is a unit of Alaska Air Group Inc., which is based in Seattle, Washington.
The new agreement includes changes to pilots' pensions and work rules. Under the deal, pilots will be able to choose between a defined-benefit pension plan and a defined-contribution retirement benefit, the airline said.
Earlier this month, the pilots union challenged the arbitrator's decision in federal court, contending that the arbitrator violated U.S. labor laws when it imposed the contract, which went into effect on May 1.
A spokeswoman for the union said the lawsuit would be made moot if union members ratify the new agreement.