The only reason there's no furloughs for FA's is because close to 5,000 took a retirement package and about another 5,000 total are either taking unpaid leaves, working in other departments, or flying shared lines. Also, while I don't know the numbers they've implemented a program for FAs above 60 to take a paid medical leave while Covid plays out.

Right there you have about 40% of the pre-Covid seniority list.

Also, FAs don't have a monthly guarantee and many bid for 50-60 hours per month.

Not making a joke of the age thing but that can be quite a large number of FA's. On an international flight it's not unusual for a good majority of the FA's to be close to if not over 60. Heck a lot of times 2 out of 3 of the pilots are also.

Delta’s rules to qualify for the medical leave are pretty stringent. A pilot who met the criteria would almost certainly be medically grounded.

I’m curious, is there anywhere one can see exactly what these rules are?

Denny

I posted them a while back. Will see if I can dig them up.
Here you go. Items were straight off Delta net.

I am sure we have some. There are however obvious issues with pilots holding a medical. The required retirement age of 65 also comes into play. The program has two parts for non cons. Part one is for those over 70. Part two is for those age 60 to 70. Only part two would apply to pilots. In order to qualify you need to have at least one of the following, a BMI over 40, renal disease, liver disease, lung disease, immune compromised system, autoimmune conditions or neurological problems. I would say that with very few exceptions pilots who might qualify For the non con program can go out on a medical and get a much better benefit via our excellent disability program.

If you’re 5’10” & weigh more than 280 lbs., you would qualify. I think you’d find more than a few of those walking around the lounge. Also, not many autoimmune disorders are disqualifying. HIV is one example of an autoimmune disorder that allows you to hold a Class 1 medical.

How does being obese get you the privilege of indefinite paid time off. Being overweight is something people can control.

Thanks for digging that up.

Denny

The older FAs I know are as seasoned and skeptical of mgt as we are. The sentiment I've heard is that if you give the company a reason to pay you for a medical condition, you're actually giving them a medical reason to fire you (with no union job protection). I'd be curious to see how many actually took this option.

But again, why are we now comparing our labor negotiations to the FA's? They have had unilateral work rule changes implemented that we refuse to consider. Cherry-picking single items is a waste of energy.

There was a Simpsons episode about this, when Homer purposefully makes himself obese so that he can work from home wearing a moo-moo.

A5S