Just one more thing.

The last 19 months have been grueling for Delta Flight Attendants.

We have lived ‘shared sacrifice’—tens of thousands of Flight Attendants took unpaid PLOCs to save jobs and help the airline through. Thousands more left the airline permanently.

Today, Delta management reported the first profitable quarter since 2019 as the U.S. aviation industry climbs towards recovery. Meanwhile management is asking more and more from us. Here’s just a few of the “added” duties management has announced since the pandemic began:

• Restored selling products onboard without restoring MyRewards commission for sales

• Cleaning the bathrooms - a work rule and safety issue

• Adding more items to the bathroom that increase trash and debris to manage

• Returning to full international food service without returning to pre-pandemic international staffing

• LODs asked to translate company materials off-duty and without pay

• Coming soon to ATL: 5 minutes HDNB early check-in/boarding

Management has added these “small” changes one at a time, changing our jobs bit by bit. Before we know it, they put the entire crisis on our backs without compensation, respect or acknowledgement for what we do every single day on every single flight.

That’s why we need a legally binding contract. We need to stop this “mission creep” and protect our primary role onboard as aviation’s first responders. For example, standard AFA contract language on ‘aircraft tidying’ specifically addresses the bathroom issue:

AFA Frontier Contract - Section 25 General

I. AIRCRAFT TIDYING
Flight Attendants are responsible for maintaining general tidiness of the aircraft in flight to include collecting papers and refuse in flight, removing visible refuse from seatback pockets, replenishing lavatory supplies and maintaining a neat cabin appearance throughout the course of the flight. Flight Attendants will not clean the aircraft.

AFA Alaska Contract - Section 24 General and Miscellaneous

D. MISCELLANEOUS JOB DUTIES CLARIFICATION
A Flight Attendant will not be required to perform work normally assigned to a cleaner, provisioner, ramp or operations agent. The Flight Attendant will make a reasonable effort to tidy up the aircraft.

AFA Hawaiian Contract - Section 29 Cabin Service

C. Aircraft Cleaning. 1. No aircraft cleaning is required by Flight Attendants on origination or termination of a flight. As time permits at turnaround stations, the tidiness and neatness of the aircraft and galley, and service items connected therewith, are the responsibility of the Flight Attendant. Flight Attendants, however, are not expected to clean the aircraft or perform other janitorial duties or servicing. These duties will be performed by personnel of other classifications.

AFA Spirit Contract - Section 23 General

N. Aircraft Tidying: Flight Attendants shall not be required to clean the aircraft including seat pockets, tray tables and lavatories. A Flight Attendant shall not be required to remove trash from the aircraft. Flight Attendants shall be responsible for maintaining general tidiness of the aircraft, including collecting newspapers and magazines and other trash (from passengers or those that protrude from the seatback pockets) and replenishing lavatory supplies, throughout the course of the flight.

To be clear, we all want clean bathrooms but cleaning should be the primary responsibility of cleaners. Recently, United management tried to do the same as Delta management. AFA asserted our contractual language, clarified duties, and addressed the unintended consequences of lav “announcement”:

“Our responsibilities in the lavatory include wiping up standing water on the counter, restocking supplies, picking up loose paper towels, and ensuring the trash flap is closed. We do not wipe up liquid on the floor, disinfect flush buttons, door handles, toilets or other commonly touched surfaces; that is cleaning.” Read more on the AFA difference >

Done (with a union contract) !

Having a contract with protections in black and white allows us to track any changes over time and capture the value of those changes before little changes add up to a big burden with no compensation or consideration for Flight Attendants at all.

Sign a card today. Let’s come together to stand up for ourselves and for the respect we’ve earned. Get involved in our campaign so we can secure a legally-binding contract at Delta.

In Solidarity,

Delta AFA

P.S. RSVP for the Next Delta AFA Town Hall on Hidden Costs for Delta Flight Attendants

Management has typically kept our hourly pay on par with the pay scales at the unionized airlines, like United and American, in an effort to keep us from unionizing. While top line compensation like hourly pay may look the same or even a little better at the top step, there are many areas where we fall behind such as trip construction, sit pay, healthcare, and many other hidden costs and missed compensation for us at Delta.

Airline Economist Dan Akins and AFA President Sara Nelson will join the town hall to lay out the union difference.

RSVP for the upcoming town hall on Monday, October 25th at 6pm ET!