Sun Country and its fleet employees reach tentative agreement on first union contract

Sun Country Airline’s 240 ground workers who handle luggage and guide airplanes at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are on track to ink their first-ever union contract.

The Minneapolis-based leisure airline and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement Thursday. Workers soon will vote on whether to ratify it.

A Sun Country spokeswoman said Friday the proposed contract “recognizes the important role these employees play” in the company’s operation and success.

Sun Country declined to share wage or benefit details in the agreement. Local union leaders did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Most fleet workers at major U.S. airlines are unionized. Delta Air Lines, the dominant passenger carrier at MSP, is one notable exception. Only Delta’s pilots and dispatchers are unionized.

Fleet workers at Sun Country voted to form a union under the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 970 nearly three years ago. The desire for better pay, improved working conditions and a seniority system motivated the effort. But the unionization process at Sun Country hit bumps along the way.

The Teamsters brought a federal lawsuit against Sun Country in 2023 that accused the airline of illegally firing employees active in unionizing efforts, a violation of the Railway Labor Act. Sun Country denied wrongdoing.

A federal judge last year dismissed the retaliation claims involving Oliver and Crisp but left intact two other legal claims alleging stricter work rules for employees who had supported the union.

Sun Country and the Teamsters reached a verbal settlement in April to end the lawsuit. The case remains open pending a court-approved written agreement.

Sun Country employs about 3,100 people who mostly live in Minnesota. The airline this year has struck collective bargaining agreements with two other employee groups.

In February, the airline agreed to a five-year contract with the Transport Workers Union, which covers Sun Country’s estimated 34 dispatchers.

Sun Country’s roughly 750 flight attendants, who make up its biggest union workgroup, accepted a contract in March that came with higher average wages and benefits. It came after a five-year negotiation and a strike threat.