Fellow Pilots of Council 44,
Thank you again for your support. In my first three letters I demonstrated how DPA and the MEC “NO” voters:
• Rejected a 24.9% percent increase in compensation over 2 years
• Supported a sick leave program that allows calling in sick as a strategy for picking up green slips
at the expense of other pilots, and
• Supported a course of action that lead to an 8.2% decrease in our profit sharing in the absence
of further pay raises.
In this letter I will address sick leave in more detail.
Senior executives briefed the MEC numerous times regarding concerns about increased sick leave usage since implementation of our 2012 contract. They apparently told the MEC that it would be a high priority during the Contract 2015 negotiations. When ALPA reviewed the company’s data and then conducted an analysis of sick leave usage at Delta and around the industry, they found that Delta pilot sick leave usage had increased from about 55000 hours in Jan 2012 to 77000 hours in Jan 2015, for an increase of 40%. Over the same period the number of pilots increased from 12044 to 12285; an increase of 2%. Industry wide usage over the same time period? Flat.
When the TA was voted down many pilots with whom I’ve spoken cited changes to the sick leave program as the primary reason they voted “No”.
Why was sick leave usage a high priority for the company?