American Airlines CEO Doug Parker is rewarding employees who have already reached new labor agreements with the company with an extra 4 percent raise.
The raise, which is added to employee's base salaries, will also go to all managers below the level of director.
Parker is also dangling the raise at the airline's pilots who are fighting with him over a new contract. The pilots can either take the raise, in addition to a multi-year deal that's already been proposed to them, or forego the raise and move forward with a deal set out in arbitration.
Pilots pay rates would be lower under the arbitrated deal. However, they would preserve many of their work rules regarding rest, seniority and where pilots are based.
American notes that if pilots accept their offer, their salaries would be 7 percent higher than pilots at Delta Air Lines. However, there is no offer of profit sharing, something that Delta's pilots do have.
With record airline profits rolling in, Delta employees this year saw a one-time bonus of about 15 percent of their salary. Granted, in years when the airline made no money there were no profit-sharing payments.
Separately, American Airlines Group Inc., which is based in Fort Worth, Texas, reached an agreement Tuesday with its 2,400 regional pilots at wholly owned airline Envoy Air. About 75 percent of the Envoy pilots approved the new 10-year deal.
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The deal, reached after a year-long dispute, includes an up-front cash payment for current Envoy pilots, a commitment for new aircraft, and an arrangement that would allow Envoy pilots to be hired at American Airlines.
