Delta Air Lines is lauded as the gold standard of operational reliability, an airline which runs on time and does not cancel flights. But as Delta faces Thanksgiving and its busiest week of the year, it is cancelling hundreds of flights. Is this poor planning on the part of Delta or a deliberate and coordinated move by employees to send a message?
Why Is Delta Cancelling Hundreds Of Flights At The Last-Minute On Thanksgiving?
The numbers are abysmal. At press time, Delta has already cancelled 254 flights today. That accounts for 17% of its overall flight schedule. Yesterday, it cancelled 95 flights. Tomorrow it has already cancelled 135 flights (and 25 thus far on Saturday).
What is going on? Is Delta merging lightly-filled flights? Labor issues?
A Delta spokesperson did not shed much light:
“Delta teams are working diligently to prevent flight cancellations this week. A number of factors have pressured our ability to timely staff several dozen scheduled flights on Wednesday. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our customers.
“If a flight is canceled or significantly rescheduled by Delta, customers are proactively contacted with new flight details and have the options of adjusting their new booking, receiving eCredit for future travel or seeking a refund. The vast majority of customers are being rebooked for a flight during the same travel day.”
This forces me to speculate, which I do cautiously, but not without basis.
On Wednesday, pilots voted for pay cuts in a deal which now precludes furloughs until January 01, 2022. Per Reuters:
The 1,713 Delta pilots, who were expected to be furloughed on Nov. 28, will now receive a partial pay of 30 hours a month along with medical benefits and vacation accrual, while they stay off their jobs.
With jobs protected, could it be that pilots simply decided to call in sick? It seems counterintuitive considering pilots overwhelming ratified the compromise and no jobs will be lost, but it could be an expression of resentment over the pay cuts coming to all pilots.
What about flight attendants? The Association of Flight Attendants has aggressively pushed workers to unionize for years. Up until this point it has failed. Nevertheless, it has a relatively strong cadre of support within the airline. Could hundreds of flights attendants have called in sick in a move that will either push Delta to make more concessions or push forward unionization efforts?
Or could it be that pilots and flight attendants simply weighed the risk and decided it was not worthwhile to put themselves and their families at risk by operating during a time in which planes are expected to be full (although Delta is still blocking middle seats into 2021)?
Another option could be that Delta was sloppy in crew scheduling. After seeking and obtaining so many voluntary furloughs, early separations, and retirements, Delta may simply not have the manpower to staff a full schedule for Thanksgiving week, traditionally the busiest week of the year. It would not be alone…American Airlines is experiencing the same issues, though is not cancelling nearly as many flights.
Finally, it could simply be that demand for flights did not materialize and Delta is consolidating service. That is so far removed from Delta’s historic playbook that I cannot imagine that would be a cause, especially as Delta admitted that crew scheduling issues were at play.
Whatever the root cause, thousands of Delta customers are stranded today, with many holiday plans likely ruined.
CONCLUSION
It’s a very un-Delta like week for Delta. The carrier that prides itself on no mainline cancellations and unassailable operational reliability is not putting on its best look during this traditionally busiest travel week of the year.
Did Delta strand you today? Let us know how Delta re-accomodated you in the comment section below.
If your Thanksgiving plans are ruined by a cancellation on Thanksgiving, maybe travel the day before instead? Chivas food for thought.
As you stated in the article, you have no knowledge of what the cause might be, so you speculate. You came to an opinion of yours and you know what opinions are like. Everyone has one.
Pretty awful article. Didn’t even mention the dozens of flight crew members being exposed to COVID-19 on a daily basis and having to be pulled of their lines. With the huge increase in passenger loads this week I no doubt imagine this also had something to do with it.
Also, how about speculating that crew members are calling in sick because uh, they are actually sick! They are working in a pandemic after all.
Delta switched loading dock on Me. Then called, asked to wait until I got there and closed door just as I approached to board.
So disappointed I cried.
Yeah… people traveling during this pandemic for non essential reasons (family gatherings) are the reason we as a country are failing to control the spread. Good on Delta for not bending to the surge.
We were caught in this debacle. Our flight for early Wednesday morning was canceled late Tuesday night. They rescheduled us for a late Wednesday night flight which was then delayed and then delayed for mechanical issues. Have not gotten compensation yet.
Agree. It almost feels at times a preemptive blaming of the unions. Muddying the waters with few facts and much suspicion.
Regarding Delta, there is no illegal job action taking place, not localized, not broad based, not at all. The recent cancellation phenomenon was largely due to a staffing train wreck stemming from parking the MD 88 fleet.
Amazing intelligence said so simply. Make plans. Plans change. Make the best of it. I dislike that this article seeks to demonize the employees. If there was a strike then I could see how this could even be remotely consistent with truth. But it’s not. A additionally dislike the fact that they would use a flight attendant of color when taking negatively about employees. Not cautious or considerate at all.
Hi woke guy. Thx for your virtue signaling service. As for the author: perhaps you missed the press releases from the airlines, DOD, and Harvard detailing that the possibility of getting covid while flying are “non-existent”?! Etf is wrong with you people?
Yes on the plane passengers and flight crews are safer than thought they would be. That is provided that everyone wears a mask throughout the ENTIRE flight, not just to gain access to air travel. As far as flight crews the risk is still very high for them to become ill. They fly up to 4 segments a day oftentimes there is little or no food available so they are surviving on “snacks” so horrible nutrition. And while they can bring their own food, there is no way to keep items cool/cold. Here’s a thought. Follow the recommendations of the CDC and do things differently this holiday season so LIFE can eventually return to normal for the long haul instead of a week.
Hmm… so it would have been better to use a Caucasian flight attendant when talking negatively about employees? How does that add or take away value from the article or better yet, how does using a Caucasian flight attendant make it “cautious or more considerate” ?
Neither is ideal. The point however is that oftentimes people of color are used when speaking negatively about any given situation, its been done for years and it gets old.
Hmm… so it would have been better to use a Caucasian flight attendant when talking negatively about employees? How does that add or take away value from the article or better yet, how does using a Caucasian flight attendant make it “cautious or more considerate” ?
Whatever the reason, I am sure it is a good one. Due to COVID I have had two international leisure trips cancel. In both cases Delta refunded me fully on both non-refundable flights. Delta has earned my loyalty and I stand behind them. Delta Airlines, you are the best! I am so looking forward to flying with you again when this pandemic is over. Thank you for setting the standard for other airlines to aspire to!
Herb Williams makes a great point! Delta is number ONE for a reason!
Even before the conno, delta would cancel flights if they could not make a profit on that flight , just back everyone up until the plane is full. Sorry bastards
Wow, your speculation shows your ignorance. Most the crews flew massive amounts of overtime. By the 16th of December I will have flown 29 of 35 days including Thanksgiving. Most crews will, or have reached, the flight time limits established by the FAA. I have been a Delta pilot for 31+ years and have worked most holidays.
Running an airline during Covid with on and off again quarantines is nearly impossible. Just as loads picked up Covid cases increased, and the government chose another quarantine.
Serves the stranded travelers right anyways. They should’ve followed CBC guidelines and not have been traveling.
youre just baseline stupid
Sorry but you just don’t understand how these things work, a furloughed pilot can’t just go right back to work, he has to go through a training refresher course with can take up to a week since he hasn’t flown for quite a while. Delta has laid too many pilots off and now its biting them in the you know what. The furloughed pilots would love to be flying, cause think about it, who would call in sick with just 30 hours a month pay when normally they get 70-80? Sorry but your speculation is way off.
This article is straight nonsense… pure opinion… we are in a pandemic at the moment if you did not realize so delta is not just doing cancellations for no reason. They actually asked for more staff to return off of their leaves but realized they may not need them. So far Delta has handled this craziness in a wonderful fashion I believe. Yes it is unfortunate that some people’s plans will be effected and changed but I’m sure a civil conversation with customer service will help work things out. Delta was able to save jobs because they don’t have a union for the flight attendants, but the pilots are unionized and look at what happened. So please don’t write articles based on YOUR opinion and try to get the straight FACTS! Of course the union supports Delta because they want their money…
The vast majority of the pilots who were tentatively to be furloughed were the most junior in seniority and their recency hasn’t yet expired. This is a combination of inefficient trips built by multiple deparents by stitching flight legs together that have rested by rolling cancellations since March, Ed’s PR campaign of keeping empty middle seats while pulling aircraft out of storage, and yes, pilot’s refusal to pick up premium pay flying, calling sick, and refusing to fly trip changes that violate contract language.
Our early morning flight was canceled and we were re-booked on the next flight, an hour and a half later. No big deal! The flight attendants were great, happy and polite, despite the fact that they were laying over 30 hours on Thanksgiving day in a faraway city! Thank you, Delta, for your professionalism and great flight crews. And if people can’t accommodate a bit of inconvenience during this busiest time of the year, Thanksgiving week, Ba, Humbug to them!
The 30 hour guaranteed minimum it’s more generous than you might think at first glance. Most of us consider 40 hours a week to be “full-time“ however airline pilots are limited by law to flying no more than 100 hours a month, and during the best of times most might average 85 hours.
I am not one of them, but I suspect that under the circumstances they are pretty happy with the 30 hour guarantee.
Your response confirms how little the average person in the public domain knows about the job of a pilot. And just for clarification, while I think the 30 guarantee was a poor move by the union, that’s 30 hours a month, not a week. So it probably keeps the lights on and the heat going, but it’s not all rainbows and unicorns as you seem to imply.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dumbest
Not everyone is traveling for fun to see family and eat turkey. My son flew east for his grandmother’s funeral and internment. We scheduled it on Wednesday, as to not interfere with his work schedule, as from past experience we’ve found flying early Thanksgiving morning is generally quite and inexpensive.
This is irresponsibly written and full of conjecture. Click bait at best, purposely inflammatory at worst. If you had asked ANYONE in the pilots union they would’ve told you that Delta actually emailed everyone in October to tell them they were going to be understaffed this week and begging people to pick up flying on Thanksgiving. That’s right, they knew about it a month ago! This is not news. They waited this long to see if people would come in on their holiday off to save the company right after taking pay cuts to “save the company”. Do some research please. This is embarrassing
Yes you are not allowed to travel for fun right now , you are only allowed
To travel for misery.
Everyone is SUPPOSED to be miserable right now. If you are not miserable then you are not following the rules correctly.
Now put your mask back on.
I’m inclined to agree!!! My infectious disease expert is currently on vacay in florida :/
Its comments like your that show that Americans are letting the government run there lives. Your sheep amount the wolves and your just to blind to know it. When you wake up and realize their one world order has taken over now you have no freedoms. And your asking for people like us to help you get your freedoms back remember your rude comments like this. Shut up and follow our new leader that assassinated your leaders because they were to busy hugging trees to notice these people helping get there weak butts into office only because they would be easy to take out. Its the Republicans that the world is afraid of because they will not be pushed around and told what to do unless you can fight better than us. And to the Republic for which its stand one nation under God INDIVISIBLE with liberty with justice for all. No were does it say to the Democracy that thinks they are smarter then God.
Oh piss off, “hey don’t put yourselves in a tube with a hundred people during a major spike of cases amidst a pandemic” is common sense. The government recommending common sense isn’t tyranny.
Are you going to write a novel of pueudopatriotic drivel if the government says “hey, don’t lay in the middle of the highway at night”? As well?
I am not at all concerned about catching covid-19. That is my decision to make. My health is my responsibility, no one else’s
You should like in New Hampshire, the “Live free or die” state. Note tge did recently change the motto to “Live free and die”. Wear as mask. Do us a favor. Whine about it later.
The Canadian Broadcasting Company?
How thin is the line between speculation and ignorance?
Pilots and flight attendants notoriously call out sick on holidays. Expect this next month on Christmas and New Year’s Eve as well. Then again on Easter, and Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, July 4th, Labor Day and Halloween, going full circle to next Thanksgiving. They don’t care about being scheduled to work, because they have a Union to protect their jobs. They don’t care about the airline because supposedly there are reserves to fly instead. Only this year most pilots have lost their qualifications due to an extreme reduction in flying and training centers that are already at capacity. And on top of that, pilots who do get scheduled for training call out sick for that so they can continue to be paid but unexpected to work, since they lost their qualifications. Being a pilot or flight attendant means you’re on welfare- corporate welfare. The company keeps giving you checks and you don’t even have to work.
While I don’t honestly know what really happened, I agree with you Dave. I have known many pilots and flight attendance do anything they can to get out of a trip. It’s selfish to not think of the passengers you might be stranding. Whatever the cause of this is, someone is going to have to awnser for the loss of income the airline might have from the canceled flights.
Dave this 100 percent inaccurate and is based off of an opinion that shows you haven’t done your research. Flight attendants at Delta are not unionized, discrediting your comment. This is the same company that when faced with bankruptcy years ago, employees stepped in and donated money to purchase an aircraft to keep the airline going. That plane is now housed in the Delta museum and shows you how much the employees pride themselves to work for such a great company and as a flight attendant for Delta I assure you, that pride is still there today. It has been shown over and over again when 2020 became such a difficult year for the industry. People went above and beyond to save jobs and not a single flight attendant lost their job because of sacrifices that people chose to make and opportunities that were put into place by management. There are consequences to calling out and doctors notes are required during the holidays if you are sick. I have also never made money when I did not work And I spent my holiday working 4 days straight so that other people could see their families. I hope you were able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving with those you’re close to!
Again, my question is what happened then? Why 300 cancellations? Just poor planning on the part of Delta?
Wow..are you a pilot? For Delta? Because I am. Your comment as well as this article are pure and utter BS. “Pilots call in sick on holidays”. Nope. Not without consequence. Stay in your lane. There is a much bigger picture here that will never be seen. To make generalizations like that is similar to saying all pilots are male.
Happy thanksgiving.
Dawnna
So can you please help us understand precisely the reason for the cancellations today? Thanks in advance.
Sure. Delta put out a massive displacement earlier in the year that effectively shrunk the size of the pilot group by making thousands of their pilots unqualified in their current category. In addition, they parked hundreds of aircraft, while at the same time planning more flights over the holiday than the system could accommodate. The shrinking was tactically designed to cut costs as quickly as possible, but the downgrade training and recovery from such a large move in staffing will take years to sort. On top of that, Delta offered nearly 2000 senior pilots early retirement AFTER the staffing cut bid occurred. This has wrecked their ability to recover quickly when network overplans flights like they did for thanksgiving. The crews are working overtime like crazy, and it still was not enough as they actually are suffering from the effects of COVID quarantine issues when crews come into contact with infected co-workers.
Dave,
You could not be more ignorant. To say we call out sick on holidays is speculation on your part. It’s irresponsible and shows your jealousy and bitterness.
Notified at 630pm on 11/25 that son’s 720am nonstop IAD-SLC was cancelled. Offered reroute was 110pm departure w 2 hr layover in DTW. Arriving SLC 641pm, 8.5 later than scheduled. Website was worthless, so I blasted them on Twitter, as we were in town for family funeral. Within minutes had agent helping to put them on nonstop BWI-SLC that got in around same time. Only out $90 Uber fare, as we were staying hotel near IAD. Going to ask Delta to reimburse for that, BWI flight was cheaper when I originally booked, but chose IAD for proximity to cemetery.
Twitter & Facebook are EXCELLENT ways to get attention with Delta.
What a stretch…must be slow day..
There is No There, There.
Its a pandemic or plandemic
Unusual responses to unusual times..deal.with.it.
Your New Normal…u dont think airlines want money?
Spoiled privileged problems. Nobody cares.
You think Delta suddenly canceling over 250 flights is not unusual?
Sure Deedee…
This poster, based on past post history, clearly has mental issues Matthew. It is sad.
I find your article very speculative. Sounds like you have an to grind. State your facts and don’t speculate.
Complete garbage of an article.
It’s unusual but your speculation is inaccurate and irresponsible. The number of open trips to be covered over this weekend exceeded the number of pilots available to fly the trips since scheduled were released to pilots over a month ago. That is a direct reflection of poor management. In other words, this train wreck has been coming for weeks. Despite managements pleas to pilots to pick up extra trips over a holiday (which they did), there simply wasn’t enough man power to make up for these inadequacies. I could go into more detail, but I’ll just stop at this: you are wrong and your speculation is offensive.
Do you want to go on the record and lay out exactly for me what happened, so I can publish an “accurate” story tomorrow? If so, please reach out to me via the contact form above. Thank you.
Really hard to make projections of mortality rates a few weeks out when the deep state interjects like this.
No good repugs are putting off dying to make me look bad. No one has been treated more unfairly than me. SAD!
As with all holidays, pilots and flight attendants called in sick to be with their families…
So pilots like my spouse took double pay to work the holiday to ensure travelers got where they needed to go. There is another part of the equation you neglected to discuss here. Delta has thousands of pilots. Reservists on call and those who are off willing to take trips on their days off.
This time of year there are an incredible amount of factors to consider. Weather is a major issue in many parts of the country, mechanical issues, and a pandemic on top create a domino effect.
It’s amusing to read articles like this. Having been a Delta family for 30+ years now and never spending holidays with my loved ones, it’s almost insulting.
I’m just thankful they have a job.
Sorry if your flights were delayed, maybe consider safety is their number one concern.
Did you reach out to an ALPA rep for a response? This is pure nonsense. Clickbait even.
The lack of pilot availability is certainly a problem, but it isn’t because of sick calls. Management forced thousands of pilots to displace to new assignments 4 months ago, creating a training backlog that will last a full year. These workers can’t work, even if they wanted to.
Poor planning by executives is the real problem.
I actually did. If you know someone there, perhaps you could ask them to respond, because I’d love to have their official response on the record.
See, this is why Live and Let’s Fly by Matthew is the best in the world. Quality work, some of it unseen. One of things to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.
As a Delta Flight Attendant, with a family and 3 children, who is working from Wed-Monday of this holiday weekend, I am appalled by this article.
Delta has the highest standard BY FAR in the aviation sector. Our employees, management, CEO, ground crew and more pride themselves on customer service and daily sacrifice time with their own families so that we can better connect the world and you to yours. We work for Delta because we love their commitment not only to you as a customer, but to us as well as employees. To suggest we would call in sick or otherwise is very disheartening to the most determined and committed employees in the industry.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Hope to see you this weekend so that you can enjoy your holidays.
Thanks for your comment Elke. Can you shed light on why over 270 flights have been canceled today?
Oh well! Delta realized that folks wouldn’t do the right thing, so they did!
This whole story is all your personal speculation. Why publish until you have the facts?
I’m Diamond on Delta and give them A+.
Thank you, from a Delta flight attendant
I recieve an email that my husband flight for Friday morning was cancelled. A few hours later the rescheduled trip was also cancelled. My husband trip was rescheduled from Friday to Saturday then to Sunday. When I called to see if there was any available flight on Thanksgiving Day. I was told that there was but it would cost an additional $208. We did not reschedule because we did not feel we should have to pay more to re schedule. We feel that he should have been reschedulef without additional cost.
Well my husband and daughters flight for Thursday morning, was cancelled 9.40pm Tuesday night. Website had no alternatives on wed or thursday, so ended up canceling and taking a diff airline, to a diff airport 4 hours away…but it worked [and cost less]
It’s an interesting article. Sad to see so many cancellations. I don’t think the 5% reduction of hours for pilots is much considering the 25% cut many people on the ground faced. And the 0 pay Ed Bastian is taking. So I think you could probably rule out a strike…. The drop in flying, when the schedule is built up for more flying may be the biggest cause here.
Joshua just to educate you further from your point . .most pilots have taken more then 40 percent pay cuts before this further reduction in pay. This is based upon the flexibility built into the contract from a monthly schedule perspective. When addi g in displacing captains to the First officer position the pay ramifications can reach over 50 percent pay cuts.
I cancelled a trip to Honolulu to see family gir Thanksgiving last month. The safety of others supersedes my holiday travel plans. No sympathy here.
Hawaii has very strict quarantine rules. Testing is mandatory before landing. Thanks for postponing your trip. I am a former kamaaina with family there. Happy Thanksgiving!
What a asinine headline. I expect better from this page. ‘’Delta employees deliberately ruining thanksgiving..’’ yeah they just said we hate our customers let’s ruin their day. How abysmal must you be to make that the headline. Stop being clickbait and be more critical in your thinking. A headline like ‘’Delta canceling last minute flights, impacting many on Thanksgiving’’ would be much better suited.
The title was phrased as a question, not a statement. And based upon the people I’ve been speaking to since this was published, I’m not sure it was simply “clickbait”. Thanks for reading.
Was it really a question? Or were you baiting people in to hear you “answer” which clearly you stated you didn’t know why with certainty for the cancels.
Lemme guess: your boss said give 500 words that might sell some advertising.
Or perhaps the pilots and flight attendants are sending the same message the CDC has been sending for months…stay HOME during a pandemic that is killing thousands, making thousands more devastatingly ill and over-taxing hospitals and already-exhausted healthcare workers?
There is 0 evidence flying is contributing to the spread, on the contrary as published by the government there is almost 0 chance of getting COVID on a flight. If you want to stay home and be afraid of your own shadow then that’s your right. The rest of us have lives to live
Our flight was canceled very last minute. It was rebooked the next day but not an option for us. This forced us to drive last minute over a thousand miles one way for our daughter to receive medical treatment. Needless to say, not ideal.
Can we expect the same delays for Christmas?
What a needlessly clickbaity headline.
You should take this down, it’s an insult to the pilots and flight attendants at DL to be making baseless insinuations like these.
Giving thanks indeed!
I merely listed options. I made no declarative judgment.
Maybe you should do some research before you make accusations to grab attention in your headline. You provided no information besides opinion and most of it incorrect
If I were to speculate, it would be that demand dropped because cuatomers cancelled their tickets during the run up to Thanksgiving, just like you cancelled your trip to Carmel.
They just scheduled more flights than they could actually staff. Specifically with the a220 and 737 since those are the junior fleets and there’s so much pilot retraining and shuffling around. There’s not some big conspiracy here about calling out sick or anything.
Hello , Idk who your source is … but I have a feeling this isn’t real journalism and just straight slander.
I’m a inside source and employee of Delta however. And I know exactly when flights were canceled … lack of pilots , retired airplanes ,and over scheduling.
You see when you are forced to retire many airplanes , staff and make cuts due to a global pandemic , unpredictable misfortunes occur and cancellations is a side effect.
Happy Thanksgiving Hope toot feel just marvelous about bashing a WONDERFUL company and slandering them for actually working on TG Day while you sit in a pajamas away from the virus .
Don’t confuse conjecture with slander. If you have a background in the airline industry, then you know that each possibility I list above is within the realm of reasonableness. When Delta refuses to provide detail and unions fail to respond to press requests, we have no choice but to speculate, which is clearly noted.
Matthew clearly is clueless to the inside machinations of how scheduling of crews work. I hope Delta responds and makes a total mockery of your ineptitude.
I hope they respond too!
The cancelled flights are actually good news. No point in spreading the virus more. smh
Flying doesn’t contribute to spreading the virus smh. Learn to do a little research
This abortion of journalism should be rescinded. What utter garbage. You failed to provide any sources or substance whatsoever, but offered baseless conjecture that the employees of Delta are “possibly” sabotaging Thanksgiving. This is just clickbait of the worst kind, and it’s cowardly for the author to make such accusations with absolutely nothing to back them up. You should be fired for this.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. My empathy and sympathy for all Americans and people around the world. I am a former Military and Airline Pilot not for Delta and I have no affiliation with Delta. However, I have flown with Delta for many years because of their professionalism, excellent services and high standards. I personally believe that their cancellations were not deliberate and no airline would do such to harm consumers. Consumers also need to have some for of compassion and adhere to CDC guidelines. Men and women of Delta are humans. They have a family just like everyone else. These men and women put their lives at risk every single day. Any consumers who have issues with any airline cancellation during this Pandemic crisis, they need to go hire a private jet or purchase their own aircraft. I am not upset with you or anyone else regarding this article. However, I will make a suggestion for Journalists to wait for a response from a company before publishing, so that you don’t frustrate hard working men and women. The world have ignored the fact that all those who are working providing a service during this pandemic crisis are “Frontline” workers. Hospital workers are not only frontline workers. Supermarket, grocery stores, bus drivers, taxis, Uber, airlines, trains, etc. May God bless you all. Happy Thanksgiving. Please continue to wear a mask at all times and practice social distancing and sanitize. Please have a wonderful and bless day.
Delta knows better and they are doing families a favor by ensuring that 17% of people don’t travel and unwittingly infect their beloved family members.
Basically, the flights were cancelled out of Delta’s love and care of their passengers and passengers’ family members.
Your location and your statement match up just about perfectly. This holiday you should be thankful for mental care and seek some out
It’s just more of the same for a US airline. They sell a service on which they have no intention of providing and force their employees to work hours a day more than they pay them. Any other business would be prosicuted for labor law violations and fraud if they did a small fraction of the unfair and illegal practices that are SOP for a US airline.
Sad that the people in this country just bend over and take it instead of standing up and demanding they change….but in the end, that might mean personal sacrifice for the greater good. Be a long time before the self centered ignorant masses in this country are willing to do that, if ever.
Matthew Klint… you are EXACTLY what’s WRONG with the media and sensationalized self-proclaimed ‘wanna be’ journalists/bloggers. You obviously know little to nothing about the inner workings of Delta and their employees and crews. The amount of ‘maybe’s’, ‘could be’s’, ‘what if’s’ and overall speculation in your ‘article’ are nothing but false. Zero validity or truth to it and reeks of union lobbyist sentiment. Please stop putting divisive, erroneous, fairytale stories into the world. You are wasting people’s time and good names.
Don’t attack the messenger. Delta’s vagueness over the cause behind the cancellations leads to natural speculation. Each potential reason was well-reasoned. This isn’t the New York Times or Wall Street Journals, but my own blog in which I offer commentary based upon my own viewpoints. That’s how a blog works…
There were no accusations made, just theories entertained. I know Delta cheerleaders can be particularly stubborn, but positing several potential theories is very different than making definitive statements. The point of this article was also for people in-the-know, as many have done, to reach out with the precise reasons for the unprecedented number of cancellations.
Did you ask anyone in the pilots union for comment? We’re shooting the messenger because he didn’t bother getting the full message. Read my comment above, but Delta actually knew this was going to happen a month ago and emailed the pilot group to beg them to pick up overtime flying to cover their mistake. They knew exactly why this was coming and did nothing to stop it
I did ask them and did not hear back. Please forward this story to them so that we can get a comment on the record. Thanks.
Your intent to stir the pot worked, since you don’t have enough information to write an actual article is evident. The pilots will not go on the record because to do so puts us in the crosshairs of the company. Continue working to find an ALPA source…
Bottom line: Delta does not have enough trained and current pilots because of the massive training backlog management induced starting almost a year ago. Their efforts to manipulate the pilots into concessions by utilizing multiple staffing reorganization’s has backfired horribly. We have thousands of pilots sitting on the sidelines because they’re stuck in months-long training cycles – some for the second or third time in a year. Combine that with to 2000 early retirements and 1700+ pilots awaiting 30-hr furloughs, and you have an airline critically short on pilot staffing.
It’s very simple math when Delta has induced several thousand pilots into non-operational status because they tried to pressure them into large concession instead of constructively working with the pilots from the beginning.
In other words, you have no idea what you’re talking about.
EXACTLY!
Forget color of skin. It is mentionod only to divide us. I just f,ew with delta and it was event less. All these peop,e and journa.ist are looking to create “news”. How a out some truth for once!
While I cannot speak for the conditions at DL or other airlines, at my own airline staff moral is at an all-time low and we struggle with staffing as a result. Many employees either feel uncomfortable in the current working conditions (questioning the safety of the cleaning products being used on their aircraft or have underlying health conditions themselves), or are irritated by management decisions through all of this. For example, many policies have suddenly changed, systems replaced, or procedures modified, and all in ways that don’t save the airline a dime….rather they protect the job of a corporate staffer yet create additional workload for the frontline teams.
So when the mainstream media and politicians are saying these are the busiest travel days of the year….why would anyone in this situation want to work and put themselves at additional risk, whether real or perceived.
While I cannot comment specifically on the DL situation, I hope this sheds some light on other issues facing the industry and perhaps may be similar in nature.
Delta cancels flights on a holiday when nobody has booked. This is not rocket science. Pure and stupid speculation on the author. Delta bends over backwards to keep customers happy.
Don’t quit your day job, Michael.
One issue Delta has is that they are not flying as many flights. Pilots need to perform 3 landings and take offs every 90 days in a plane to remain certified for that aircraft. This is not always happening now. Therfore some flights are cancelled for lack of a pilot.
Delta stranded me today. Had to rebook with United.
I find your assumption and conclusions insulting. There is ZERO chance the employees of this airline intentionally sicked-out on Thanksgiving. Furthermore, if one does the regional supervisors required proof of illness if it is over a holiday period. I have forwarded your article to ALPA. Hopefully they will be in touch to explain the issues.
Thank you, DT. I look forward to their response.
For anyone else reading, ALPA just responded to their members with the truth. This dude never actually contacted the unions before publishing. Just going for click bait. Furthermore, they’ve attempted to contact him and he hasn’t responded.
Sorry pal, already read it. I did reach out and hope Chris calls me back tonight. Thanks for writing.
You are a clown and a liar that’s in desperate need of attention. ALPA put out a statement saying you never reached out to them. They actually did try contracting you but you didn’t respond to them.
Your theories are worth as much as single ply toilet paper. Do everyone a favor and just stop writing. You’re pathetic.
A little late Tom…