Contract breakthrough for Sun Country, pilots
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Updated 2:10 p.m. | Posted 9:46 a.m.
Sun Country Airlines and its pilots say they've finally reached a tentative agreement on a new contract.
The Mendota Heights-based airline and the Air Line Pilots Association have been negotiating for five years and began working with a federal mediator in 2012.
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The two sides say the proposed agreement includes pay raises and other improvements. Union chairman Brian Roseen says he expects a ratification vote will begin next month and wrap up by Oct. 31.
Both the company and union say the National Mediation Board helped them break through to an agreement during a session at the board's headquarters in Washington last week.
Details won't be released until the airline's 250 pilots are briefed about the agreement and vote on it.
"As any negotiations can, they get contentious," said Darin Kluck, a union spokesman. "But we're grateful for the National Mediation Board helping us reach common ground and bring us to a tentative agreement."
Sun Country chairman Marty Davis said the airline appreciates the professionalism of the union during negotiations which can be emotionally charged and sometimes turbulent.
Last year, Sun Country carried about 1.7 million passengers to or from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
MPR News reporter Martin Moylan contributed to this report.
