Delta flight attendants remain without a union but advocates are hopeful for a future vote

Disclosure: Elissa Castles was a Delta flight attendant from 2016-2023 and was never involved in the union campaign.

Delta Air Lines is the only major U.S. airline without a union for its flight attendants. In the past, there have been three failed attempts by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the union representing flight attendants, to organize this work group.

The most recent union campaign began in November of 2019 but its rollout got eclipsed, just a few months later, by Covid lockdowns and slower flying. But more recently, as the number of unruly passengers has climbed to record levels and flight attendants had to face passenger outrage at the company’s mismanagement during this summer’s IT meltdown, a new wave of union support is lifting the campaign. And Delta has taken note. 

In February of this year, 145 House of Representative members sent a letter to Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian, which called on the company to remain neutral during the union campaign, calling out its history of union busting and citing a 2019 anti-union poster hanging in the worker lounges. This was followed by 25 senators sending the same letter in May. 

Though Delta pilots have been unionized since 1934, the company remains a historic holdout for unionizing its other work groups. And with all other major U.S. airlines highly unionized, the reason as to why much of the company remains without representation is unclear. Some union advocates argue that the union poses a threat to Delta’s power to control employee work rules and wages which in turn could have an effect on their title as the most profitable airline in the country. Delta, however, disagrees. In an email to Marketplace, a Delta spokesperson wrote that the direct relationship the company has maintained with its employees, “has proven to be stronger, faster, and more effective in driving improvements, which is why Delta employees have repeatedly rejected union representation from AFA and other groups over the past 20 years.” 

A flight attendant, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of losing his job, said he chose to work at Delta precisely because of their anti-union history. 

“One of the reasons that Delta was attractive to me is because it did not have a union,” he said.

This flight attendant was hired in 2015. He grew up in what he described as a conservative, anti-union household. But after a few years on the job, he said that he started feeling at the mercy of the company. That is when his views on organizing started to change.

“If you are late, if you mess something up, if a passenger gets upset and sends an email. There is accountability on you all day long,” he said. “However, there is zero accountability with Delta to you.” 

This flight attendant said unionized airlines have built in representatives to advocate for them if rules get broken by the company or if they feel they’ve been mistreated. He said there isn’t a robust system for Delta flight attendants to file a grievance and see a real result.

“Very rarely is there any actual recourse,” he said. “With a union, at the very least, you are able to say, this is what I think,” he added. 

In response to this, Delta said that flight attendants have access to, “numerous layers of support” including an equal opportunity department as well as an anonymous ethics and compliance helpline. Delta also pointed to the company’s open-door policy, which it said allows for candid communication between flight attendants and leadership.

Very rarely are new flight attendants eager to support a union right out of training. However, that has been a notable new occurrence over the last year of this campaign, according to a few organizers. Michael Bearman, who’s been a flight attendant with Delta for just over a year, became interested in unionizing during his first few months. Bearman is also part of the 10-person AFA steering committee, a group of Delta flight attendants who advocate for and help lead the union campaign. 

New hires like Bearman start out on a six-month probationary period known as Fly Right. He said during that time, new flight attendants get exposed to so many more germs after working long hours in close quarters and as a result he noticed that he and his coworkers would often get sick. 

“Most of us worked sick because we were too afraid to call out,” Bearman said. He claims that’s because some people who called out would get their probations extended by months but others didn’t. 

In response, Delta wrote that, “all airlines have a period after graduation when people are expected to exhibit strong performance and reliability. However, if someone is sick, our Fly Right program expects them to prioritize their wellbeing and not come to work.”

But Bearman says, in his experience, Delta did not clearly state these guidelines and the lack of transparency frustrated him. 

“That’s when I decided to sign a card,” he said. 

Signing and mailing in a physical card known as an authorization card, is the first step in calling for a union. According to the Railway Labor Act of 1936, which covers labor relations in the airline and railroad industries, cards are only valid for one year and a vote may only take place if over 50% of the labor group both signs and posts one through the mail. This is in contrast to other industries covered by National Labor Relations Acts, where cards can be signed electronically and only 30% of the labor group is needed to call for a vote.   

For many AFA organizers, getting enough cards signed has presented a few challenges. Delta’s recent flight attendant hiring spree has expanded the work group size year after year and has made their 50% goal, a moving target. Organizers like Bearman said the other big obstacle is Delta’s culture. 

“Every email from your manager will have something about, ‘Don’t risk it, don’t sign it.’ Referring to the union cards. In every lounge you see, ‘Don’t risk it, don’t sign it, get the truth on AFA.’ It’s infused into the culture very intentionally in order to, truly instill fear in flight attendants,” Bearman said. 

Delta said they want to make sure employees have, “the information they need to make their own choices about union representation.” Adding that they believe their, “direct relationship has consistently delivered more for our people, and we share this point of view clearly and transparently with our employees.”

The company has started a kind of campaign of their own. They’ve even created a website for employees to go to which highlights the benefits of remaining unorganized and stresses that the company’s direct relationship is what sets them apart from other unionized airlines and makes them the leaders of the industry. 

Nicolas Owens, a research analyst covering airlines at Morning Star, calls Delta’s lack of flight attendant representation a “distinction without a difference” in this highly competitive industry. He said Delta has had to keep up with other unionized airlines and already pays top dollar for its workers. He suggested Delta’s desire to fend off a union is likely less about maximizing profits and more about something else. 

“It’s probably going to be a desire to preserve practices that they have now that might offer them certain scheduling flexibility or other things that might get muted under a union contract,” Owens said. 

A flight attendant, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution from colleagues, said she feels extremely supported at Delta and sees no need for a union. During the tech outage in July, she was rerouted multiple times and came home from an 18-hour duty day, crying out of pure exhaustion. She said her first call was to her manager who she said took her concerns seriously. Her manager took her next day’s trip off her schedule and remained in touch with her over the days that followed. She said that even during this not-so-pleasant experience she felt the company went out of their way to help her.

“I’m not brainwashed into thinking Delta is perfect by any means but the evidence of what the union can and does do is not in their favor, in my opinion, to support me willingly giving them money,” she said. 

Despite there being a number of flight attendants at Delta who wish to remain without representation, AFA said they’ve seen unprecedented support this time around. Its president, Sara Nelson said she thinks this campaign is different from those of the past because the labor movement at large is stronger today.

“Here we are today where union is in the water, everyone’s talking about it,” Nelson said. “What’s different is that there is this message of solidarity among the working class.”

Nelson believes the Delta flight attendants are encouraged by other big labor wins and see unionizing as a way to have a voice at Delta.  

“They see that the only way to take control of their lives is actually to sign a union card and fight for this union. And I’ve never seen that message so strong in this campaign before.”

She added if momentum keeps up, she expects the Delta flight attendants will get a vote by the end of the year.