Atlanta Plane Train workers have ratified their first union contract, securing an immediate 18% wage increase and new workplace protections under a five-year agreement covering 90 Alstom technicians.

Interior of an Atlanta Plane Train car with doors, handrails and route displays
Interior of a Plane Train car at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Illustrative image; it does not depict the contract ratification. Photo: Xavierhouston1 / Wikimedia Commons / CC0 1.0.

TCU/IAM announced the ratification⁠ on July 17, less than a year after the employees voted to join the union in August 2025. The bargaining unit operates and maintains the automated people mover at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

What the first Plane Train contract changes?

The agreement provides an immediate 18% wage increase with retroactive pay to April 2026. Workers will then receive 3% annual wage increases for the remainder of the five-year term, together with a $2,600 ratification bonus.

The package also establishes five paid sick days, an annual cash-out option for unused sick leave, five paid holidays and a 5% premium for lead technicians. Seniority rights, a grievance and arbitration procedure, and just-cause protections are included for the first time under a collective bargaining agreement.

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Plane Train operations continue around the clock

The Plane Train carries more than 250,000 passengers⁠ each day between the airport’s terminals and seven concourses. Alstom operates the 2.8-mile underground system 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Plane Train route display showing Atlanta airport concourses and the next stop at E gates
Passenger route display inside the Plane Train at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Illustrative image; it does not depict the contract ratification. Photo: DiscoA340 / Wikimedia Commons / CC0 1.0.

Alstom’s separate five-year operations-and-maintenance extension⁠ with the airport is valued at approximately €140 million, or $160 million. It covers train operations, power and electrification, vehicle and guideway maintenance, and cleaning of tunnels, platforms and other facilities.

The company says that broader airport contract supports nearly 140 direct local jobs. The newly ratified collective bargaining agreement sets the pay and workplace framework for 90 technicians working on the Plane Train.

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