Flight Options pilots OK contract that gives them a almost 40% lift over five years

Pilots at Flights Options, the fractional jet ownership company based at Cuyahoga County Airport, have approved a contract that gives them almost 40 percent raise over five years.

The agreement was authorized by 88 percent of the pilots, members of Local 1108 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. It wraps 511 pilots -- 320 active and 191 on furlough.

Haggling for the contract, the pilots' first since being organized by the Teamsters, lasted 31/2 years. That is standard for a first contract in the fractional jet industry, Local 1108 President Mat Slinghoff said.

The agreement gives the pilots an immediate 10 percent raise, with the rest of the pay raises spread out over five years. The initial lift places the annual salary of a pilot with 10 years at Flight Options at $85,000 to $95,000.

Salary variations are joined to seniority and the size of aircraft flown. The Flight Options fleet has 5 jets ranging in size from the seven-passenger Hawker 400HP to the 13-passenger Embraer Legacy.

The agreement also gave two months' retroactive pay, amounting to a signing bonus.