FedEx Pilots OK Contract Improving Pay, Scheduling

FDX Corp.’s pilots on Thursday approved a five-year agreement giving them more pay and better flight schedules, the first labor contract at Federal Express, the world’s largest express-delivery company.

About 86% of the 3,300 pilots union members voted to approve the contract. The accord gives FedEx pilots, who earn an average salary of $142,000, a 17% pay increase over five years, making them the second-highest paid among U.S. commercial pilots, Morgan Keegan Inc. analyst Arthur Hatfield said.

The pilots “haven’t had a pay increase in several years, so it’s a good deal,” Hatfield said.

The accord ends a five-year dispute between FedEx and the union. The pilots had threatened to strike during last year’s holiday season to protest the lack of progress in contract talks, only to back down when FedEx hired outside airline and trucking companies to make deliveries if needed.

In addition to a pay increase, the new contract gives pilots protection against a computerized scheduling system they said forced them to fly long routes with little rest.

The pilots had rejected two previous contract offers. Pilots are the only unionized workers among FedEx’s 140,000 employees.

Shares of Memphis-based FDX fell $1.06 to close at $81.94 on the New York Stock Exchange.