Southwest Airlines and Its Stock Clerks End Mediation and Announce Tentative Agreement

DALLAS, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest Airlines and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Airlines Division, representing the carrier's Stock Clerks, announced today that the two parties have reached a tentative agreement. The tentative agreement is for a new, five-year contract through August 16, 2013. The current contract became amendable on August 16, 2008.

Earlier this year, Southwest and the Teamsters agreed to seek assistance from the National Mediation Board through the mediation process as defined by the Railway Labor Act. This current tentative agreement is due to the hard work and dedication of both parties.

"I want to congratulate the negotiation teams for working together to reach this new tentative agreement, which delivers wage and benefit enhancements in exchange for work rule improvements and contract flexibility," said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "These are exciting times at Southwest, and our hard working Stock Clerks play an important role in the future success of this great Company."

In the upcoming weeks, the IBT membership will be given the full details of the agreement and have the opportunity to vote on ratification. IBT represents more than 170 Southwest Airlines Employees.

After 39 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers--offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded and now serves 69 cities in 35 states. Southwest also is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the Southwest Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,200 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide.

http://www.southwest.com/

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