Piedmont Airlines Reaches Tentative Deal with 7,500 Union Workers
AAL sits 36% above its 52-week low of $10.09.
Summary
A tentative five-year contract has been reached for 7,500 passenger service and ramp agents at Piedmont Airlines, a wholly owned regional subsidiary of American Airlines. The deal includes a signing bonus, annual wage increases, expanded vacation, and overtime accrual. This follows a challenging Q2 for American, where record revenue was nearly wiped out by a $2.2B fuel cost surge, leading to an 88% drop in net income and a cut to full-year guidance earlier today. Avoiding a labor disruption at a key regional feeder removes a potential operational risk, though the cost of the new contract will add to expense pressures. The agreement still requires ratification by union members.
At the time of this announcement, AAL was trading at $13.68 on NASDAQ in the Trade & Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $9B. The 52-week trading range was $10.09 to $18.79. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Reuters.