The Blame Game

We knew this summer was going to be rough. Demand is back, but staffing isn’t. Executives are chasing profit without consideration of the actual staffing we need on the line to operate.

Delta management was one of the last to pull down some of our summer schedule to bring it in line with our current staffing – just 3 days before Memorial Day weekend, not a great look to consumers or lawmakers. The weeks following haven’t gotten better – if anything they’ve gotten worse.

Our reroute rates are off the charts. We’re arriving late or getting flown into our days off. There’s not enough schedulers to keep up with cancellations and delays. Move-ups are suspended. Preferences are delayed. Bases across the system are exposed to unprecedented A Day percentages. And no contract to backstop any of it.

Scheduling throws our “work rules” out the window for “operational needs” and management blames us for “unscheduled absences.”

“We are also experiencing a high rate of unscheduled absences. While leaders from the field and the GO are picking up trips, our customers and your fellow flight attendants are counting on you. We appreciate you flying your scheduled trips.”

Unreal that they would try to blame us for conditions they created and on the heels of two of the worst years in the history of aviation. It’s only June and without a union we have no recourse, transparency or accountability.

We have sacrificed for over two years. We have worked countless weekends and holidays to “help the operation.” Enough is enough. Contrary to their misinformation we can collect enough cards to trigger an election and vote for our union, and they can’t retaliate by taking anything away. That means we can lock in where we are if we vote for our union and negotiate up from there. There’s never been a more urgent time to make this happen.

We’re almost back to pre-pandemic capacity, but with 4,000 less Flight Attendants than we had before COVID. There’s no way for us to cover that. We can’t pick up enough trips to cover management’s missteps.

Sign a card today, then sign up to become a Delta AFA activist so we can have a real voice at work. Let’s hold management accountable.