Southwest Airlines And International Brotherhood of Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement For Material Specialist Employees

DALLAS, Jan. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), the union that represents Southwest's Material Specialists, today announced that a Tentative Agreement has been reached.

"This Tentative Agreement gives our Material Specialists a well-deserved pay increase through the life of the five-year agreement," said Vice President of Labor Relations Russell McCrady. "I'm appreciative of the National Mediation Board's assistance and the work by both Negotiating Teams to reach this agreement." 

"I would like to thank the committee for their hard work and dedication to bringing forward this industry-leading Tentative Agreement to the membership," said Captain David Bourne, Director of the Teamsters Airline Division. "Our members are true aviation professionals, and this agreement will recognize them as such."

The nearly 300 Material Specialists at Southwest oversee the Company's technical operation inventory management across the network. The IBT will communicate directly with these Employees about the voting process.

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In its 48th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 58,000 Employees to a Customer base topping 120 million passengers annually. Southwest became the nation's largest domestic air carrier in 2003 and maintains that ranking based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded. In peak travel seasons, Southwest operates more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 99 destinations in the United States and 10 additional countries. Southwest has announced its intention to serve Hawaii, subject to requisite governmental approvals.

Southwest coined Transfarency^® to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free^® to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some carriers offer free checked bags on select routes or in qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply.

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SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.