PAL Airlines and Air Borealis

Pilots Concentrate on Contract Negotiations and Enforcement

PAL Airlines Master Executive Council (MEC) leaders worked throughout 2025 to recruit and train pilot volunteers for several committees and began preparing for upcoming negotiations.

In February 2025, a new PAL Airlines Pilot-to-Pilot® Committee was officially stood up to disseminate information between the MEC and the pilots. In April, the MEC established the Strategic Preparedness and Strike Committee, which is helping to secure a new collective agreement.

In early summer, members of the pilots’ Negotiating Committee undertook a cross-base tour to introduce themselves and answer questions about upcoming bargaining slated to begin in July.

Due to substantial operational growth, the pilots’ quality of life has been negatively impacted, and pilot leaders are working to achieve a contract that respects their members’ flight-time/duty-time limits and recognizes the value they bring to the airline and the communities they serve.

Contract negotiations started well, with PAL Airlines pilots securing both a Negotiations Protocol Agreement that ensures backpay to the contract’s expiration date and a Maintenance of Activities Agreement that delineates the limited essential-service flying the pilots perform. Ongoing sessions continue to be productive, but many sections of the contract remain open, including scheduling and compensation.

Air Borealis pilots secured a new collective agreement in 2024 and continue to diligently enforce the terms of the contract. The pilot group and the company have one grievance pending arbitration regarding credit calculations, which is scheduled for 2026.

PAL Airlines and Air Borealis, two divisions of the PAL Airlines Group, operate as separate carriers with their own operating certificates. However, ALPA considers the two groups unified as one pilot group under one MEC.