June 30, 2006    

CONTACT:
Karen Absalom
Director, Member Communications
Southwest Airlines Pilots Association
kabsalom@swapa.org
214-722-4231

SWAPA Members Vote to Enter Contract Negotiations

Southwest Airlines pilots in a referendum that closed at noon today voted by a margin of 80.71 percent to 19.29 percent to enter contract negotiations with the Company. 

SWAPA has sent Southwest officials the notice of intent to begin bargaining, as required by the Railway Labor Act.  Talks are expected to begin in August.

Our pilots are among the most experienced Boeing-737 pilots in the industry and have the honor of working for an airline with an outstanding management team, SWAPA President, Capt. Ike Eichelkraut, said. We look forward to continuing the spirit of partnership that has existed between our pilots and our Company for more than three decades.  For us, formal negotiations is a periodic opportunity to adjust work rules and compensation for our pilots while, at the same time, ensuring the continued growth, success and profitability of our Company.

Southwest pilots have been operating under a contract that was last negotiated in 1994 and then extended in 2002.  The pilot negotiating team and the Company negotiating team have been preparing for upcoming talks for the past two years.

SWAPA conducted a membership referendum on whether to extend the current contract amendable date to Aug. 31, 2007.  With todays results, the membership declined a one-year extension of the current contract.  Turnout was 70.8 percent of the Associations 4,984 eligible voters. 

Under Railway Labor Act laws governing airline industry negotiations, airline contracts do not expire.  Rather, they become amendable or subject to change on a certain date.  The current Southwest pilot contract amendable date is Aug. 31, 2006; contract terms, including a Sept. 1, 2006 pay raise, remain in effect until a new agreement is ratified.

SWAPA, headquartered in Dallas, TX, is an independent U nion which represents the more than 4,800 pilots of Southwest Airlines.