News Release
Continental Pilots Sign Five-Year Labor Contract
HOUSTON, June 26, 1998 -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAI.B and CAI.A) today announced that the airline and the Independent Association of Continental Pilots (IACP) have signed a five-year labor contract that brings the airline's 4000 pilots up to industry standards. The signing occurred late yesterday, June 25. In attendance at the signing were the IACP union leadership, including President Len Nikolai and Vice President Bill Borrelli, as well as several Continental executives.
Pilots at Continental Airlines approved the contract by a two-to-one margin. The contract went into effect upon signing yesterday and becomes amendable on October 1, 2002. The negotiations weren't contentious or protracted by industry standards.
Contract negotiations with the Continental Express pilots will resume later this summer under the auspices of the National Mediation Board.
Continental enjoys one of the least contentious labor-management relationships in the airline industry. Earlier this month, the Transport Workers Union and the airline agreed to an amended aircraft dispatcher's contract after just five days of negotiations. That contract wasn't even amendable until next year. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, representing Continental's flight attendants, and the company reached an agreement on June 30, 1996 after less than four months of negotiations and one day before the contract became amendable.