OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2016. United and the Professional Airline Flight Control Association (PAFCA) reached a tentative agreement today on a contract extension for the company's more than 420 dispatchers.

The tentative agreement extends the current contract through the end of 2021 and delivers important improvements for United's dispatchers, as well as the company.

"This is an important milestone for United and for our dispatchers," said

Oscar Munoz, United president and chief executive officer.  "Our dispatchers do a superb job of keeping our passengers and crews safe and keeping our operations reliable, and I'm glad we were able to reach this tentative agreement within a short period of negotiations. I want to thank all of the company and union negotiators for working side-by-side to reach this positive outcome."

The agreement is subject to ratification by United's dispatchers.

United has joint collective bargaining agreements covering the majority of its represented work groups, including pilots, ramp and passenger-service agents, storekeepers, load planners, maintenance and fleet technical instructors, and dispatchers. Recently, United's pilots voted to ratify a contract extension more than a year ahead of their contract's amendable date, following an expedited negotiations process with ALPA. The company recently opened contract negotiations early for the work groups represented by the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, including ramp and passenger-service agents, storekeepers, load planners, and maintenance and fleet technical instructors. The airline is also engaged in mediated negotiations with the Association of Flight Attendants and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

About United

United Airlines and United Express operate an average of nearly 5,000 flights a day to 342 airports across six continents. In 2015, United and United Express operated nearly two million flights carrying 140 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

United operates more than 700 mainline aircraft, and this year, the airline anticipates taking delivery of 20 new Boeing aircraft, including 737 NGs, 787s and 777s. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 192 countries via 28 member airlines. Approximately 84,000 United employees reside in every U.S. state and in countries around the world. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol UAL.