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Home  >  Delta Air Lines • Law In Travel  >  Delta Air Lines Cries Foul Over Sara Nelson Tweet
Delta Air LinesLaw In Travel

Delta Air Lines Cries Foul Over Sara Nelson Tweet

Matthew Klint Posted onJanuary 13, 2022January 13, 2022 17 Comments

Delta Air Lines has accused the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) of a defamatory campaign of misinformation on Twitter concerning Delta’s COVID-19 sick leave policy. Delta is demanding the AFA cease and desist such deception. But the AFA is digging in, claiming that its statements were true and warranted. 

In This Post:
  • Delta Air Lines Accuses AFA Of Defamation
  • Delta Alleges Defamatory Tweet
  • Sara Nelson Personally Responds
  • CONCLUSION

Delta Air Lines Accuses AFA Of Defamation

Forecasting a tremendous staffing shortage that seemed needless due to the less invasive nature of the COVID-19 omicron variant amongst the vaccinated, Delta was one of many companies which requested that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reduce the quarantine period for asymptomatic positive cases from 10 days to five days.

While the CDC claimed its decision to halve its quarantine period was rooted in data and observation (science), the AFA cried foul, accusing the CDC of kowtowing to business interests over human health and safety. Nevertheless, Delta updated its COVID-19 employee policy to reflect the new CDC guidance.

This included new guidance for when to return to work after testing positive:

  • Fever or no fever: if you are not feeling well, don’t come to work.
  • If you tested positive for COVID-19 and, after five days, you still have a fever that is 100.4F or higher, you could still be contagious and you should continue to isolate.
  • We recommend taking a test on Day 5, which can help guide your steps:
    • If the Day 5 test is negative and symptoms have resolved (for example, your temperature has been below 100.4F for 24 hours), you may come to work and property mask on Days 6-10.
    • If the Day 5 test is negative and you are still feeling symptoms, do not come to work.
    • If the Day 5 test is positive, you should continue to isolate for two more days and take another test on Day 7 (and will receive COVID-19 pay protection).
    • If the Day 7 test is positive, you should continue to isolate for three more days (and will receive COVID-19 pay protection). You may return to work on Day 11. If the Day 7 test is negative, and you do not feel up to return to work, you can utilize PPT [paid personal time].

Delta Alleges Defamatory Tweet

However, Sara Nelson, International President of the AFA, took to Twitter to allege that Delta was really asking sick workers to come back to work or face discipline:

Getting multiple reports @Delta is telling workers across work groups that they should come to work w/ symptoms even if someone in the household tested positive. And test positive workers should come to work after 5 days if the fever is below 100.9, even if still testing positive

— Sara Nelson (@FlyingWithSara) January 6, 2022

This tweet (and others like it) prompted a stern rebuke from Delta, including a cease and desist letter from Peter Carter, Delta’s Chief Legal Officer.

The demand letter began bluntly:

“I am writing you to request that the AFA-CWA cease and desist from posting and promoting false and defamatory information about Delta Air Lines.”

Carter went on to outline the policy I noted above, then added:

“Recently AFA used Twitter to spread false and defamatory information regarding Delta’s COVID-19 policies. Specifically, AFA reported that Delta is telling employees testing positive for COVID-19 to come to work after five days even if they are still testing positive. In addition, AFA reported that Delta is telling employees who were exposed to COVID-19 and have symptoms to come to work. This false information was disseminated without anyone from the AFA organization contacting Delta to ensure the information that was set forth as fact was accurate. 

“Not only is this information false, but it is actionable because it places Delta in a highly negative light by suggesting Delta was asking employees to work while they were ill. Even more troubling, the AFA’s conduct appears to have been made with the intent to create fear and confusion among Delta employees about their own health (which is candidly reprehensible). Such irresponsible conduct is inappropriate, defamatory and must cease immediately. We expect you to delete the false information from the AFA and its leader’s social media accounts immediately and cease and desist making further false and defamatory statements about Delta.”

The letter was addressed to Edward Gilmartin, the AFA-CWA General Counsel.

Sara Nelson Personally Responds

While the letter was addressed to Gilmartin, Nelson responded personally in a note to Delta CEO Ed Bastian. At the outset, she points to the letter’s failure to quote a single tweet or other statement on social media deemed false:

“Mr. Carter’s letter makes general claims about allegedly false and defamatory statements made by AFA in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and Delta’s policies for employees with COVID. His letter does not, however, quote a single statement or social media post that is false in any way, much less defamatory. We believe our statements are truthful and accurate. But we will, of course, correct the record if you can point out to us any specific instance where our statements were false when we made them.”

Nelson then claims that Delta updated its guidance to require workers to be asymptomatic before returning to work and still notes that Delta does not require a negative test before returning to work.

“We’re glad that AFA’s calling attention to the issues appears to have led Delta to update its policy several times and communicate this to workers. Delta’s policy now refers to being asymptomatic before returning to work, which was a serious concern as that CDC guidance was initially omitted from Delta’s policy announcement. But we are still getting questions from Delta flight attendants about returning to work with a low grade fever and about the fact that Delta’s current policy only recommends to test before returning to work and does not require a test.”

The policy, which is noted above, indeed does not require a negative test before returning to work if an employee has no fever or other symptoms. However, two Delta flight attendants told Live and Let’s Fly that the recent guidance never changed; that Delta never encouraged symptomatic employees or those who tested positive to return to work.

The remainder of Nelson’s note is intended for an audience far larger than Bastian and touts the positive impact of unions for airlines and employees.

Her note challenges Delta to confront her directly. In all likelihood, Nelson’s tweet may not be defamatory if several employees did report such threats. However, it is also highly convenient that Nelson can point to unnamed sources to launch such strong attacks against Delta, the airline that has drawn her ire for many years as the AFA has continually failed to unionize its flight attendants.

CONCLUSION

Delta and the AFA are again at war over statements concerning Delta’s policies for employees who test positive for COVID-19. While the nuances of this exchange suggest (at minimum) a stretching of the truth by Nelson and the AFA, this battle is really part of an ongoing war between Delta and the AFA, as it continues its push to unionize Delta flight attendants.

In new forms and in new ways, this struggle will continue. For now, Delta’s COVID-19 sick policy is the latest flashpoint in a decades-long battle over unionization.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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17 Comments

  1. Stuart Reply
    January 13, 2022 at 10:04 am

    I have a number of friends here in the DMV that tested positive around Christmas at the height of the surge here. A high percentage of them are still testing positive (though feeling fine), some after two weeks. My point being, I’m not sure about anything anymore and these recommendations. I think the only thing we can do is accept as Fauci said that “we are all going to be touched by it.” With that, get boosted and just do what you would normally do if you had the Flu…rest, get better, and go back to work when you feel fine.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      January 13, 2022 at 10:14 am

      Agreed, and it should be noted that Delta does not go nearly as far.

  2. Jared Houser Reply
    January 13, 2022 at 12:12 pm

    Sara Nelson is the absolute worst! A total disgrace for the industry!

  3. Simon Peters Reply
    January 13, 2022 at 12:38 pm

    So Sara Nelson is allowed to have a BLM banner in her profile picture but if I pilot has a let’s go Brandon bag tag that’s racist, xenophobic, sexist, etc.

    Makes sense!

    • bigbird Reply
      January 17, 2022 at 5:33 pm

      I agree w/you. It does make sense. I presume you think black lives do matter and that saying **** you to the President is disrespectful and wrong. Thanks for your helpful reminder!!

      • Brandon Reply
        January 19, 2022 at 5:20 am

        You mean the same way all of you did from 2016 through 2020 during the best economic recovery of our lifetimes which was derailed by Fauxi, Democrat governors, and China?

  4. GetReal Reply
    January 13, 2022 at 12:53 pm

    CDC guidance doesn’t require a negative test before returning to work…

    While Nelson should be commended for keeping the airlines afloat during 2020/2021 – she really needs to take a step back and realize her actions as of late are really aimed at harming the industry.

  5. derek Reply
    January 13, 2022 at 12:56 pm

    Nurses are like the flight attendants union. They are very militant. They think they care more than others in the medical field and think they know more but they are actually worse in both ways. Very sad.

    • bigbird Reply
      January 17, 2022 at 5:38 pm

      when you go after the nurses, you’ve lost your sanity. How come the anti-vaxxers race to the hospital to be treated by doctors and nurses when they get covid? ICU’s filled w/antivaccinated people. If you wanna stay true to your “liberty”, don’t use precious medical staff or facilities. Stay in your home

  6. Jerry Reply
    January 13, 2022 at 1:16 pm

    Sara Nelson can (and will) complain all she wants, but the real problem is that it’s just not OK to call in sick to work in the United States. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. The problem is probably not Ed Bastian, but the mid-level managers who more directly place pressure on FAs (and other employees) to show up every day.

  7. haolenate Reply
    January 13, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    Sara and the AFA are keenly aware that the “senior mamas” at Delta are going to be retiring soon and are being replaced with a younger workforce that may be more open to commUNIONism – so she’s keeping up the heat to appeal to these younger, newer flight attendants. So she’ll spread whatever venom she can to make herself & AFA look good because they just want bigger paychecks (for the union).

    Lets try some math for everyone else who doubts me.

    25,000 estimated flight attendants at Delta. AFA dues are like, 1.9% of the pay. Estimated taxable wage of the average flight attendant at Delta is, lets say $36,000 a year (this doesn’t include per diem). $684/year in dues. x 25,000 = $17,100,000 — thats a LOT of change for a union that hasn’t been on strike in how many years?.

  8. 121Pilot Reply
    January 14, 2022 at 9:01 am

    In my view Sara Nelson is an entirely toxic presence in the airline world. Flight Attendents and the rest of us who work for an airline for would be far better served if she disappeared from the scene.

    • bigbird Reply
      January 17, 2022 at 11:18 pm

      As a former 727 pilot, hat’s off to 121 cuz he/she has been a pilot for a very very(!!) long time. And yet still, after all these years, the pilots hate the FAs and the A&Ps (mechanics). The FAs hate the pilots and the mechanics. And then the mechanics, hate the pilots (arrogant know it alls) and the FAs. Good thing US taxpayer has bailed airlines out w/over $50 billion since Covid, or there wouldn’t be any major carriers who can pay their senior pilots 300k+/year. Wright bros made a cool invention but the economics of it have always been horrible if airline employees hate one another.

  9. Flight Attendant X Reply
    January 14, 2022 at 11:37 am

    I’ve said it before and I will say it again… Sara Nelson and her AFA goons are a cancerous tumor within the aviation industry and need to be removed. She is salivating over the thought of having an opportunity to represent Delta flight attendants and this just reeks of her desperate thirst. She is so worried about a workgroup that she doesn’t represent, yet leaves United flight attendants high and dry. Why doesn’t she focus on items that require her oversight… e.g,, negotiations for UAL’s new flight attendant contract (which already expired in the pandemic). Stay in your lane, Nelson. Stay in your lane.

    • Flight attendant WHY Reply
      January 15, 2022 at 1:47 pm

      Agree! Most at UA cannot stand her. Run Delta, run and leave her in your rearview mirror!

  10. bigbird Reply
    January 17, 2022 at 5:45 pm

    Unions represent about 10% of US workers down from about 35% in say, 1955. CEOs and corporations are making obscene sums of money. the 2017 Trump giveaway which was supposed to provide help to middle and lower class folks resulted in CEO bonanzas and stock buybacks elevating stock prices. The rich got richer. A flight attendant isn’t making enough money to live in a one BR apt in most major American cities. Unions are not the problem. Love the comments of these travel blogs. “goons” “communists” “Go Brandon” “cancerous tumors” “Sarah Nelson is the antiChrist”. You folks are hilarious!!

    • Sonya R. Schuschel Reply
      May 28, 2022 at 2:02 am

      Agree ! A 34 yr flight attendant @Delta . Ive
      been around & see we need representation at the table soon or we will be “eaten alive”!

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