Some flight attendants at Delta Air Lines fear the Atlanta-based carrier is hiring crew for the second time in just four months in a desperate bid to stave off the threat of them forming a union as a final push by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) gets underway.
Under the rules of the Railway Labor Act (which also governs labor relations in the airline industry), to form a union, at least 50% of Delta’s flight attendant workforce must sign a union authorization card, which would then trigger a formal ballot.
AFA-CWA has tried and failed to unionize Delta’s flight attendants on four separate occasions, but the union believes it hasn’t been this close to gathering the required number of authorization cards since 2010, when the last campaign ended in disappointment for union leader Sara Nelson.
Nelson and her union started their fifth attempt to unionize Delta crewmembers in 2019, and AFA now believes it could be just weeks away from gathering the required number of authorization cards.
The threat appears to be taken very seriously by Delta’s leadership who, last week, sent what AFA described as a “union busting” email to tens of thousands of fight attendants. The airline said in its email that it was simply sharing facts with its employees.
Just four months after running an extensive flight attendant recruitment campaign in September, Delta has unusually reopened its hiring window, with lucky candidates expected to start training in early 2025.
Union-supporting flight attendants fear that the effect of this latest hiring campaign will increase the total number of crewmembers and will mean that even more authorization cards will need to be collected before a ballot can be called.
For its part, Delta says that it is simply hiring more flight attendants to match what it describes as its “most robust travel schedule ever” in 2025.
During training, the new recruits are set to receive mandatory training in which the airline makes “false, misleading and coercive statements about AFA,” according to a recent lawsuit filed by an ex-flight attendant.
Delta’s last recruitment campaign in September attracted an overwhelming response, with the airline’s dedicated recruitment website repeatedly crashing as desperate hopefuls rushed to submit their applications.
You might have thought, therefore, that Delta would have plenty of talent to pick from and wouldn’t need to reopen applications soon, although the airline did send an email to candidates reminding them that they were expected to wear underwear to their interview.
Despite the recent push by AFA, the issue of unionization amongst Delta flight attendants remains highly contentious, and many believe they could lose out on one of the most generous profit-sharing schemes in the industry if they were to be unionized.
At present, only 20% of Delta’s US workforce is unionized – most notably, the airline’s pilots and despatchers.
They should make more money then those in the office. There loves are always dictated by the company and home life takes a back seat.
AFA is nothing but a bunch of lies. Worked under them for years and it was nothing but raising your dues and getting NOTHING for it. They are first about AFA the business..second..the cushy union jobs..last the actual line employees who they supposedly represent. This union is a scam… steer clear
Why does every article about Delta and Union sound like the FA ‘s want a union, I assure the majority of us do not want one and are very happy with Delta being One Delta! And if Delta is hiring for that purpose I’m good with it! Keep the Union as far away from us as possible.
Sure. That’s what Delta is doing. It’s hiring flight attendants, even though there’s no work for them, just to somehow stave off a union.
This is the kind of nonsense union radicals spew that make the 94% of private sector workers who aren’t unionized scorn them.
Good luck if they get afa voted in, less pay, less profit sharing, afa is a joke of a union, ask any frontline flight attendant represented by them at ua.
15 year Delta FA here.: This article is nonsense. We don’t need or want a union for several reasons, the biggest of which is it would mean a big pay cut. Delta management has always been transparent with operations, generous with pay and benefits and acts generally upon employees requests for improvement making employee satisfaction numbers and pay the highest in the business. A union would ruin that.
Agreed and well said. The union wants more victims to pay mandatory union dues, nothing more. Delta employees are happy so leave them alone.
Right. What is Sarah you-cant-vote-for-or-against-me-being-president Nelson going to do for you if you Unionize?
Take $50 a month from you and play seniority politics while also pushing for her own political career goals.
A nice way to give all master committee members raises they vote for and you have no say in.
They’re going to pay themselves 100 hours a month at top out pay and abuse flight benefits under the guise of union business.
Save yourself the $50 a month for gas to get to work.
An AFA dues payer for an airline that lost their union in a merger that prioritizes the seniority club you’re not going to be part of until they die.
How hard is it to understand the words No Thanks! The AFA hasn’t been able to protect unionized FA’s at other airlines, what makes them think they can do any better at Delta. Just ask AFA-represented FA’s at United. Junior FA’s at UA got shafted by AFA due to Covid. Delta did not furlough any FA’s during the pandemic. Sarah, move along, there is nothing you have to offer DL FA’s. How long does it take to learn what No Thanks means.
This is absolutely ridiculous!!!! AFA just wants the $$$$$ that Delta would add to their already lined pockets and will offer NOTHING in return!! Delta is a fabulous place to be a FA b/c there is NO UNION!!! AFA is full of lies and false promises, look at the airlines they represent….NO THANK YOU!!! I have been working for Delta for almost 10 years, have received 15 raises, the BEST profit sharing in the business, etc….I could go on and on….ALL without a union! AFA is desperate. AFA GO AWAY, we DO NOT WANT YOU!
AFA is a totally Corrupt Union – They are only interested in F/A money – No representation at all – F/A officers in Chicago including theirs Senior Attorney are Corrupt.- Delta F/A should stay away from AFA.
I worked for Delta in many capacities from 1967 till 2005. Every few years a union would try to unionize various departments. Each time the unions failed in their quest. While I was there we always had the best pay and benefits of any US airline. The unions promise was always representation and job security
Representation is true but they cannot promise an outcome. Job security is also a lie. Look at layoffs after 9-11. Delta asked for early retirements, leave of absence etc. The unionized airlines were given a number to lay off. Last hired, first fired. No choice. Didn’t matter how well you performed on the job. UNION, No thank you.