Amerijet Cargo Pilots Approve Contract

Striking flight crewmembers at cargo airline Amerijet International overwhelmingly approved a contract settlement that could put them back to work in a week, the Teamsters union announced Monday.

Pilots and flight engineers approved the contract in a 35-3 vote over the weekend, the union said.

Details of the four-year pact were not immediately released, but the Teamsters said it would restore a 10 percent wage cut the company imposed in March.

The union said it could be signed this week, and pilots would then return to work Sept. 21.

The freight carrier workers walked off their jobs Aug. 27, ending a five-year effort to reach a new contract.

Amerijet said it has continued to operate its normal schedule for freighters out of South Florida through Caribbean and Central American destinations.

The walkout prompted a series of bitter charges regarding working conditions at the niche carrier, including statements by backers of the pilots that Amerijet pushed the pilots to work in poor conditions that included aircraft not equipped with bathrooms.