Delta Air Lines’ two unions are calling out the carrier for failing to effectively prepare for “predictable weather events” like last weekend’s thunderstorms that “cripple the operation.”
Antiquated IT systems and tight staffing are leaving employees in “unacceptably difficult situations with significant operational pressure and inconsistent support,” according to union leadership.
The heads of Delta’s Air Lines Pilots Association and Professional Airline Flight Control Association on Wednesday wrote a scathing letter to their members, a copy of which was obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
It’s the first time in recent history that the pilots union and dispatchers union at Delta have banded together on an issue like this — an issue they argue is a trend.
In response, the company said in a statement: “As we fly our summer schedule connecting our customers to the places and moments that matter to them, Delta people are singularly-focused on a safe and reliable travel experience with welcoming, caring and elevated service for all.”
Hail, high winds and slow-moving thunderstorms effectively shut down Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for several hours last Friday, causing a cascade of thousands of flight cancellations and delays.
Saturday storms exacerbated the impact, though the company’s network operations had largely returned to normal by Monday.
But the massive scale of effects shouldn’t have happened for something predictable like summer thunderstorms in Atlanta, the unions argue.
Delta “has made the decision to staff the airline for blue sky days, leaving minimal buffers in the system for operational disruptions,” wrote ALPA Delta Master Executive Council Chair Captain Eric Criswell and PAFCA-Delta President Jeff Donaldson, the heads of the only two unions on Delta property.
Employees “often feel pressured to continue their duty day when they are fatigued,” they wrote.
“Providing the tools needed to support our pilots, front line employees, and passengers during predictable and routine events like this weekend’s thunderstorm must be a priority for Delta going forward,” Criswell said in a written statement.
The current pilot scheduling system dates back to the 1980s, ALPA-DAL spokeswoman Karen Miller told the AJC, and pilots can wait hours to speak to the scheduling department when the computers are inaccurate. Plans to upgrade it, she said, are “nowhere near completion.”
Compounding the problem, she said, are efforts by the company over the last decade to run a leaner staffing operation across the board; buffers in pilot schedules that make room for foreseeable problems like weather have been reduced since 2018.
“There is no slack in the operation,” the letter states.
The unions “have urged Delta to invest in its people and IT infrastructure rather than continuing to rely on antiquated systems and processes,” Criswell and Donaldson wrote.
“After each event, management assures us that changes are coming,” but discernible improvements “remain elusive.”
Situations like last weekend mean that working agreements are “regularly violated” in the “scramble” to recover after summer storms, they said.
Many union contract protections are ignored “at the worst possible moment” regarding things like scheduling adjustments, securing lodging and arranging transportation.
Unions are able to file grievances regarding contract violations after the fact.
Delta flight attendants, who are not unionized though there have long been efforts to do so, are the “most vulnerable to operational pressure,” the two union leaders argued in their letter.
Pilots are long-term stakeholders in the company and “want nothing more” than to deliver passengers safely and produce a return for the company, Miller said.
But when the process breaks down “due to internal, management driven issues, we’re obligated to ensure the membership is aware of the issues.”
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