Southwest reaches a labor agreement with flight attendants, who voted down a previous deal last year

Southwest Airlines has reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with union flight attendants. The airline announced the deal Wednesday but did not disclose details of the agreement. Flight attendants have lagged behind pilots in winning pay raises from U.S. airlines. Attendants at Southwest voted down a previous deal in December that would have given them an immediate raise of 20% followed by four annual raises of 3%. Pilots at leading U.S. airlines won new contracts last year that will raise pay by about 40% over five years, but flight attendants have lagged behind in reaching agreements with the carriers.