American Airlines Group Inc.’s
AAL,
stock climbed higher Monday after pilots ratified a new contract with the airline. Pilots voted 72.7% in favor with more than 95% of eligible pilots voting, according to the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 15,000 American Airlines pilots. Under the new four-year contract, pilots get about $1.1 billion in “immediate, one-time payments and ratification bonuses; annual pay rate increases for the contract’s duration; and enhancements to various benefits and work rules,” the union said. In total, the new contract secured more than $9.6 billion in added funding over the prior one, the union said. Pilots, on average, will see a pay raise of more than 21%, and combined with increases, compensation could rise more than 46% over the four years of the contract. American Airlines shares were last up 0.7%, versus being down as much as 0.6% before the report. The S&P 500 index
SPX,
was also up 0.7% in recent activity.