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CWA-AFA · United Airlines

Ratification History · 2016 Baseline vs. Rejected TA1 vs. Ratified 2026–2031 Agreement

Post-ratification status: The ratified 2026–2031 agreement is now the current governing agreement. It was ratified on May 12, 2026 and became effective May 31, 2026, the first day of the June bid month. Until a clean final 2026–2031 CBA PDF is publicly available, CrewSignal cites the ratified TA2 full text as the operative public source document, alongside the former 2016–2021 JCBA, the rejected 2025–2030 TA1, LOA 9 implementation materials, and later official implementation updates.
Editor's Note: CrewSignal provides source-based comparisons of collective bargaining documents for informational purposes. This analysis is not legal advice, advocacy, or strategy. Official source documents always supersede these summaries. Practical application depends on specific implementation terms and subsequent administration.

Overview

Former agreement effective August 28, 2016 · Amendable August 28, 2021 · Replaced by the ratified 2026–2031 agreement effective May 31, 2026

Comparison frame: former 2016–2021 amendable agreement vs. rejected 2025–2030 TA1 vs. ratified 2026–2031 agreement.

This ratification-history hub preserves the comparison between the former 2016–2021 baseline, the rejected 2025–2030 TA1, and the ratified 2026–2031 agreement. Use it to reach the full longform report, jump directly to individual sections, review key deep dives, and open the original source documents.

Full section-by-section analysis

The canonical longform Sections 1–32 analysis of the ratified 2026–2031 agreement against the former 2016–2021 baseline, with TA1 history where material.

Appendices

Focused issue pages and integrated appendices for scope, compensation methodology, reserve, LOAs, benefits, and reader framework materials.

Source documents

Direct links to the current CBA, TA1, TA2, and the United pilot agreement used for scope analysis.

Section index

Appendices

LOA Appendix

Letter-by-letter architecture with emphasis on implementation timing, LOA 9, LOA 16, LOA 18, LOA 19, and one-time payment provisions.

Summary

Ratified agreement vs. rejected TA1

The ratified agreement improves some front-end economics and preserves multiple TA1 gains, but it also adds the LOA 16 United Express scope issue and does not newly extend retiree medical beyond TA1.

Ratified agreement vs. former baseline

The ratified agreement is materially better than the former 2016–2021 operating baseline in many economic, reserve, benefits, safety, and enforcement areas — but often through phased implementation.

Biggest New Positive

Sit pay is a real new compensation item and should be treated as one, not dismissed as cosmetic.

Biggest New Negative

Scope / LOA 16 adds a real United Express carve-out that did not exist in the former 2016–2021 CBA or rejected TA1.

Source documents

The hub, full report, and integrated LOA 16 analysis reference the September 29, 2023 United Pilot Agreement. The full agreement is included here as a primary source for the complete report.