There is no disparity Denny. A minority is less than half by definition. A minority of us (likely a small minority) abuse sick leave.

The "huge" spike is another metric of one time compared to another as well as the increase in the size of the minority.

As stated in Negotiators Notepad 15-04:

"ALPA reviewed the Company’s data and then conducted an independent analysis of sick leave usage at Delta and around the industry. That data showed that sick leave usage at Delta has increased about 30% since 2012. The statistics also showed that a small number of pilots, about 20%, use over 50% of the sick leave hours. In addition, this group of high users has dramatically grown in size since 2012.The data, however, showed no statistical difference that could explain the increased usage. Some of the categories we looked at were age, seniority, base, aircraft, international versus domestic, and captain versus first officer."

We can pretend guys don't abuse sick leave, and we can pretend that the increases are due to how hard we work and spring allergies and a bunch of other self-serving justifications. Or we can admit that some of us lack the integrity to go to work when we are well and instead call in sick when we are not.

I've had low sick leave years and I have had high sick leave years, but I don;t worry about it in either case because I know that when I call in sick, I am sick.