Allegiant Pilots Ratify Contract With 40% Average Pay Raise

The two-year agreement also releases about $300 million in accrued retention bonuses.

Allegiant Pilots Ratify Contract With 40% Average Pay Raise
[Credit: HMBSoFL Photography]
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Key Takeaways:

  • Allegiant Air pilots have overwhelmingly ratified a new two-year collective bargaining agreement, passing with an 80% margin and 99% pilot participation.
  • The contract provides significant financial gains, including an immediate average 40% hourly wage increase (totaling ~54% by January 2027) and the payout of approximately $300 million in accumulated retention bonuses.
  • Pilots will also receive improved benefits and work rules, such as a 15% company-funded 401(k) contribution, company-paid long-term disability, minimum pay credits, expanded leave protections, and enhanced scheduling safeguards.
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Nearly 1,300 Allegiant Air pilots represented by the Allegiant Pilots Association, Teamsters Local 2118, have ratified a new two-year collective bargaining agreement. The contract passed by an 80% margin, and 99% of eligible pilots participated in the vote.

Pay and Benefits

The agreement provides an immediate average hourly wage increase of approximately 40%. The union said total wage increases will reach about 54% by January 2027. Ratification also triggers the payment of approximately $300 million in retention bonuses that have accumulated since 2023.

In practice, the union’s summary of the agreement later ratified by pilots listed initial hourly rates ranging from $107.28 for a first-year first officer to $320 for a 12-year captain.

Additional provisions include a company-funded 15% direct 401(k) contribution and company-paid long-term disability coverage through age 65. Pilots will also receive a five-hour minimum pay credit for each flight duty period, expanded leave protections and increased premium pay for open time, voluntary flying and junior assignments.

Scheduling and Integration

The contract establishes minimum days off and protections related to scheduling systems, displacement, fleet transitions and furloughs.

The agreement follows several years of negotiations. Pilots had been working under a contract ratified in 2016 that became amendable in 2021, and they conducted informational picketing at 22 U.S. airports in November 2025.

“This agreement represents a major leap forward for our pilots,” Local 2118 President Ryan Joseph said. “It delivers approximately 54 percent in wage increases by January 2027 and meaningful improvements to retirement, benefits, work rules, and quality of life over our previous contract.”

The union said it will next focus on joint collective bargaining and seniority-list integration as Allegiant moves forward with its planned combination with Sun Country Airlines.

Matt Ryan

Matt is AVweb's lead editor. His eyes have been turned to the sky for as long as he can remember. Now a fixed-wing pilot, instructor and aviation writer, Matt also leads and teaches a high school aviation program in the Dallas area. Beyond his lifelong obsession with aviation, Matt loves to travel and has lived in Greece, Czechia and Germany for studies and for work.
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