Delta pilots demonstrated at seven US airports on Thursday, demanding higher wages, among other things. This photo was taken at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Reed Donoghue
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Reed Donoghue
Delta pilots demonstrated at seven US airports on Thursday, demanding higher wages, among other things. This photo was taken at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Reed Donoghue
More than 1,200 Delta pilots and employees took part in seven airport-wide demonstrations Thursday, including calls for higher wages amid flight cancellations across the United States on the eve of the bank holiday weekend.
During demonstrations at major airports in New York City, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Los Angeles, Delta employees held signs with messages such as “Industry Leading Contract NOW.”
The last time a contract was negotiated between Delta and its pilots was in 2016, said Reed Donoghue, a Delta pilot who has been with the company for six years.
“Our message to Delta management today was that it was time to sit down at the table for an industry-leading contract,” Donoghue told NPR over the phone. “And you know, [for] Passengers flying this weekend know there’s a good chance at least one crew member on their flight, whether a flight attendant or pilot, is likely to be working overtime on their day off to support operations.
Delta Air Lines pilots went on strike at Los Angeles International Airport during a protest held Thursday in Los Angeles, California, at airports across the country.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Mario Tama/Getty Images
Delta Air Lines pilots went on strike at Los Angeles International Airport during a protest held Thursday in Los Angeles, California, at airports across the country.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Aside from higher pay, Delta pilots strive for better work-life balance, health insurance, retirement and job security, Donoghue said. So far in 2022, Delta pilots are on track to have worked more overtime by the end of the summer than 2018 and 2019 combined, he added.
Delta told NPR that Thursday’s demonstrations by its employees “would not disrupt our operations for our customers.”
“Earlier this year, Delta, ALPA and a representative of the National Mediation Board resumed our mediated contract negotiations, which had been on hold for nearly two years because of the pandemic,” Delta said in a statement to NPR. “Our goal remains to continue to offer Delta pilots an industry-leading total contract with the best compensation based on pay, retirement, work rules and profit-sharing. We are also committed to ensuring that contract language supports our ability to run, be a world class company, maintain a strong balance sheet and invest in our business for our customers and employees alike.”
Thursday’s demonstrations came a day after Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said that he called on Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and the US Department of Transportation to take action to reduce airline cancellations and delays.
With the increasing demand for air travel, airlines are struggling to keep up, in part due to a pilot shortage. Faced with issues like inclement weather, many airlines have been forced to cancel flights entirely.
Lance Wilson is an activist at The Worker Agency who believes Delta employees “deserve fair compensation.”
“Over the past six years, inflation and the pandemic have driven up the cost of basic necessities, so Delta needs to stop exploiting its employees and pay them fair wages for the valuable work they do,” Wilson said, per E -Mail to NPR.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Franklin.