Virgin America pilots vote to unionize

Ben Mutzabaugh | USA TODAY

Pilots at Virgin America have voted to unionize, the carrier announced Thursday. Virgin America had been the last major U.S. airline with non-union pilots.

Virgin America's pilots will now be represented by the Air Line Pilots Association.

"The organizing effort was not unexpected, as Virgin America was the last remaining major U.S. airline without a unionized pilot group," Virgin America says in a statement to Reuters.

Virgin America, launched with minority backing by British tycoon Richard Branson, began service in 2007. The San Francisco-based company went public in late 2014.

Bloomberg News writes "having unions probably will raise costs over time at the seven-year-old airline, which has about 600 pilots. Compensation and work rules will be frozen until a contract can be negotiated, a process that generally takes about three years, (CEO David) Cush has said."

Virgin America's flight attendants also recently opted to unionize, voting in favor of representation by the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) in August 2014.