Delta AFA Newsletter: January 27, 2020

In this edition (January 27, 2020):

• AFA Town Hall Call on January 28th at 5pm ET
• Coronavirus Outbreak
• Mourning the Loss of One of Our Aviation Family

RSVP NOW: AFA Town Hall Call on January 28th at 5pm ET

We will host our next Delta AFA Town Hall Call tomorrow, January 28th at 5 p.m. Eastern. AFA International President Sara Nelson will be joined on the call by Judith Anderson, AFA's Industrial Hygienist. You can submit a question to be answered when you sign up. 

RSVP for the January 28th Town Hall Call here > 

In order to join the call, you MUST sign up by 11am ET on January 28th. The call will last approximately 30 minutes.

Coronavirus Update

Flight Attendants are on the front lines of any communicable disease outbreak. AFA engages with airlines and world-wide health authorities to share information and put in place measures to mitigate risk and contain exposure. There are now five confirmed cases in the United States including Washington state, California, Illinois, and Arizona. Over the weekend, health authorities also advised the infection can be passed by individuals who are not yet displaying symptoms. 

Last week, AFA wrote to all AFA member airlines, as well as to CEO Ed Bastian, to coordinate efforts and encourage airlines to implement AFA’s Communicable Disease Checklist. This checklist is based on decades of experience and specifically addresses the unique issues with our workplace. While the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) addresses over health updates and procedures for prevention, it often is not as specific as fully necessary for airline crew and with concern to airline operations.

Last night, Delta updated crew “either in a base that serves China,” or crew “scheduled to fly an out-of-base pickup to Beijing or Shanghai.” The update included information about screening passengers, precautions in Delta kitchens located in PEK and PVG, a double allotment of provisioned gloves, precautions at crew hotels, and advised Flight Attendants may individually decide “to wear a mask or not on a short-term basis for our China-flying routes only.” If you want to access the update from Delta, it was posted and sent last night at 8:17 pm Eastern Time, Sunday, January 26.

AFA continues to advocate for the procedures recommended in our full checklist.

If you are directly affected at Delta, AFA can help. Contact AFA EAP at 800-424-2406 to get assistance and be connected with our experts in Air Safety, Health, and Security.

United, Alaska, and other airlines are working literally by the hour with AFA Safety reps at these airlines. Flight Attendants are better supported this way. This is an example of the importance of having a union. And it is beneficial to the airline too as global threats like this are better mitigated and contained by working together. #StrongerTogetherBetterTogether

Updated webpage on Coronavirus >

Mourning the Loss of One of our Aviation Family

Our hearts are heavy this morning with news that one of our aviation family, Alexis Reed, age 30, who worked as an Airport Customer Service (ACS) below the wing employee for Delta, was shot and killed last night. The shooting occurred around 10:30 pm eastern time Sunday night, at the Camp Creek employee parking lot, located on the 3900 block of Northwest Drive.

Alexis was taken to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead. AFA offers our deepest condolences and our thoughts are with Alexis’ family, loved ones, and coworkers. If anyone is in need of assistance, AFA EAP is a confidential resource available at 800-424-2406.

Police are investigating the death as a homicide. No suspects are in custody.

Delta released the following statement publicly: “The Delta family is grieving the loss of one of our own this morning. Late last night, an Atlanta colleague passed away after a shooting at the Camp Creek employee parking lot. We share our deepest condolences with both family and friends. Delta is currently conducting an investigation, in partnership with law enforcement.”

We look forward to additional information on the investigation and steps being taken to ensure the safety of all employees utilizing the employee parking lot. We will update this news item as information is available.