Dispatchers, Atlas Air Worldwide ratify new bargaining agreement

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and its dispatchers have ratified a collective bargaining agreement, covering two subsidiary carriers, Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo Worldwide.

The four-year contract extension includes pay increases, as well as benefits associated with the dispatcher’s relocation to the company’s operating hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), as part of Amazon’s planned relocation to CVG from Wilmington.

John Dietrich, executive vice president and COO at Atlas Air Worldwide, said that the new agreement “offers highly competitive pay increases as well as favorable moving allowances for our valued dispatchers. It also extends a solid contract that continues to serve us all very well.”

Dietrich thanked the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), Local 210, that represents the dispatchers, and remarked on their, “hard work and commitment during the entire process.”

Meanwhile, negotiations between Atlas’ pilots union, the Airline Professionals Association (APA) Teamsters, Local 1224, have yet to produce mutually agreeable terms. The union also stressed that there are too few pilots to meet the long-term demands for Atlas’ major clients, including DHL and Amazon, and warned that many pilots may begin seeking work elsewhere.

In the leadup to the finalization, Robert Kirchner, Atlas Air pilot and executive council chairman of APA, Teamsters Local 1224, called on executives to “address the serious challenges that face our operations. As our pilots continue to leave due to substandard pay and working conditions, the attrition and retention issues at our airline should be a top concern and one that underscores the need to work with pilots on fair, honest solutions to these issues.”

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