The Teamsters-represented pilots of Seattle-based Horizon Air ratified a new five-year labor contract in late November, officially ending some four years of negotiations, the airline announced last month. Nearly 77 percent of Horizon’s 613 pilots voted, and some 59 percent of those voted in favor of the agreement.

The new contract includes “dramatic” improvements in work conditions, including a provision under which the pilots will write their own schedules and trips, according to the Teamsters. The sides also agreed to a scheduling process that allows pilots to trade and manage their schedules with each other. The agreement also included “significant” ratification bonuses and a process for submitting pay rates in two separate “baseball style” arbitrations.

Horizon’s pilot contract became ­amendable in September 2006. Last January both ­Horizon and the Teamsters requested federal mediation to resolve open items. The sides reached an agreement in principle in June and a tentative agreement in September.