Sun Country Pilots Approve New Contract

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — Sun Country Airlines pilots have approved a new contract after five years of off-and-on again negotiations.

The contract provides a raise of between 20 and 30 percent in the first year of the five-year deal. The Star Tribune reports nearly all of the 250 Sun Country pilots voted on the agreement with 87 percent approving the deal.

Pilot Darin Kluck says he and his colleagues were previously making 45 percent below the industry average. The pay for senior captains rises from $132 an hour to $161 an hour and tops out at $201 an hour in 2019.

The National Mediation Board helped the Mendota Heights company and members of the Air Line Pilots Association come to terms.