Southern Air pilots’ union ratifies agreement

The agreement between Atlas Air Worldwide and the union representing the pilots that fly for its subsidiary – Southern Air, the all-cargo carrier for DHL – has been ratified after a long push that dates back to 2012 from pilots to increase pay rates to the same wage scales as their counterparts at parent company Atlas Air.

The union has advocated that increasing pay wages for pilots would reduce turnover experienced by the airline. “We want to better serve the airline and the many customers across the globe who rely on our work,” said Captain Bryan Holmberg, a Southern Air pilot and Executive Council Chairman for the carrier, during the APA Teamsters Local 1224 meeting last month. “But to do so we need to stop the rapid turnover and hire pilots to meet DHL’s ever-growing demands.”

The latest news from the airline marks the finalization of the deal, which is discussed in depth in our story from July.