MINNEAPOLIS — Thursday Delta airlines pilots who are part of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) will picket at seven Delta hubs across the US, including MSP airport. ALPA members will protest "protracted contract negotiations."
This is the third picketing event held at MSP since April. In a release, ALPA said they have been negotiating with Delta management for a new agreement since April 2019. Talks were paused during the pandemic and resumed in January 2022. Right now, the ALPA says pilots are facing "fatiguing schedules" and "inadequate staffing."
“The Delta pilots were on the front line during COVID to provide transportation to essential workers," said Capt. Jason Ambrosi, chair of the Delta ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC). "When travel demand returned sooner than expected and management overscheduled the airline, we stepped up to fly historic levels of overtime so our customers could return to the skies. We broke overtime records again in June and July. With Labor Day approaching, our message to Delta management is clear: It’s time to acknowledge your front line leaders and get serious at the negotiating table."
In response, a spokesperson for Delta airlines said, “This year, ALPA has organized several informational picketing events at various airports to bring attention to what they see as shortcomings in the pilot contract and share their concerns with pilot schedules. These exercises by some of our off-duty pilots do not disrupt our operation for our customers."
A spokesperson for Delta added their goal remains to continue providing an "industry-leading overall contract with the best compensation based on pay, retirement and profit sharing."
The picketing will take place from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday, Sept.1. In addition to MSP, pilots will hold similar demonstrations at LAX, DTW, ATL, SEA, NYC/JFK, and SLC.
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