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UPS pilots ratify 2-year contract extension

Amended agreement includes compensation and pension improvements

Eric Kulisch
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UPS to raise import/export fuel surcharges next month (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The union representing pilots at express delivery titan UPS said Friday its members have overwhelmingly ratified a two-year contract extension.

UPS Airlines (NYSE: UPS) pilots approved the agreement with 91% voting in favor and with 97% participation in the balloting, the Independent Pilots Association said. The new agreement extends the terms of the pilot contract until Sept. 1, 2025.

The short-term extension provides enhanced wage increases and retirement benefits, according to UPS and the IPA.

UPS Airlines is based at the parcel company’s global air hub in Louisville, Kentucky.


UPS recently launched a new daily flight from its Cologne, Germany, air hub that connects key manufacturing cities in Asia, speeding up transit times across multiple intra-Asia trade lines and increasing network connectivity, CEO Carol Tomé said during a presentation of second-quarter earnings last month.  

International package volumes slowed in the second quarter due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and COVID lockdowns in China, but higher yields boosted international revenue 5.3% to $5.1 billion.

UPS has about 3,200 pilots employed under a collective bargaining agreement that was eligible for amendment Sept. 1, 2023. Negotiators for the union and UPS reached a tentative agreement on the extension in mid-June. 

The new labor deal provides UPS and customers three years of extra certainty against possible labor disruptions. 


The integrated parcel logistics company also employs about 1,700 airline mechanics who are covered  by an agreement with Teamsters Local 2727, which becomes amendable Nov. 1, 2023. 

FedEx (NYSE: FDX) pilots are expressing frustration with the pace of negotiations on a new labor pact. The collective bargaining agreement became amendable in November and talks started in May 2021, according to the Air Line Pilots Association.

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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at [email protected]