Disclosure: Elissa Castles was a flight attendant at Delta from 2016 to 2023 and was never involved in the union campaign.

Delta Air Lines is the only major U.S. airline without a union for its flight attendants. There have been three failed attempts in the past by the Association of Flight Attendants (CWA), the union that represents flight attendants, to organize this task force.

The most recent union campaign began in November 2019, but its rollout was dwarfed by Covid lockdowns and slower flying just months later. But more recently, as the number of unruly passengers has risen to record levels and flight attendants have had to deal with passenger outrage over the company’s mismanagement during this summer’s IT crisis, there is a new wave of union support gives the campaign a boost. And Delta has taken notice.

In February of this year, 145 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Delta CEO Ed Bastian urging the company to remain neutral during the union campaign. It pointed to its history of union busting and cited an anti-union poster from 2019 that was hung in the workers’ lounges. As a result, 25 senators sent the same letter in May.

Although Delta pilots have been unionized since 1934, the company remains a historical holdout on unionizing its other work groups. And since all other major U.S. airlines are heavily unionized, it’s unclear why much of the company remains unrepresented. Some union advocates argue that the union poses a threat to Delta’s power to control employee work rules and wages, which in turn could impact its title as the country’s most profitable airline. However, Delta disagrees. In an email to Marketplace, a Delta spokesperson wrote that the direct relationship the company has with its employees “has proven to be stronger, faster and more effective in driving improvements, which is why Delta employees have repeatedly sought union representation.” rejected by the AFA and other groups over the past 20 years.”

A flight attendant, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing his job, said he chose Delta precisely because of its anti-union history.

“One of the reasons Delta was attractive to me was that there was no union,” he said.

This flight attendant was hired in 2015. He grew up in what he called a conservative, anti-union household. But after a few years in office, he said he felt at the mercy of the company. It was at this point that his views on organizing began to change.

“When you’re late, when you mess up, when a passenger gets upset and sends an email. They have responsibilities all day long,” he said. “However, Delta has no responsibility whatsoever to you.”

This flight attendant said unionized airlines have appointed representatives to advocate on their behalf when the company breaks rules or when they feel they have been mistreated. He said there is no robust system for Delta flight attendants to file a complaint and see a real outcome.

“Very rarely is there any actual recourse,” he said. “At least with a union you can say I think so,” he added.

In response, Delta said flight attendants had access to “numerous levels of support,” including an equal opportunities department and an anonymous ethics and compliance helpline. Delta also pointed to the company’s open-door policy, which allows for open communication between flight attendants and executives.

Very rarely are new flight attendants willing to support a union immediately after training. However, according to some organizers, this was a notable new event in the final year of this campaign. Michael Bearman, who has been a Delta flight attendant for just over a year, became interested in union membership in the first few months. Bearman is also part of the 10-member AFA Steering Committee, a group of Delta flight attendants who advocate for and lead the union campaign.

New employees like Bearman begin a six-month probationary period known as fly right. He said that new flight attendants were exposed to many more germs during this time after working for hours in close quarters, and that he noticed that he and his colleagues were often getting sick.

“Most of us worked sick because we were too afraid to call,” Bearman said. He claims that’s because some people who came forward had their probation extended by months, but others didn’t.

In response, Delta wrote, “All airlines have a post-graduation period where strong performance and reliability are expected from their employees.” However, when someone is sick, our Fly Right program expects them to prioritize their well-being and doesn’t come to work.”

But Bearman says in his experience, Delta hasn’t clearly spelled out those policies and the lack of transparency has frustrated him.

“That’s when I decided to sign a card,” he said.

Signing and sending a physical card, called an authorization card, is the first step in calling for a union. According to the Railway Labor Act of 1936, which governs industrial relations in the airline and railway industries, cards are only valid for one year and a vote may only take place if more than 50% of the group of workers have signed and mailed one. This is in contrast to other industries covered by the National Labor Relations Acts, where cards can be signed electronically and only 30% of the workforce is required to call for a vote.

For many AFA organizers, signing enough cards was a challenge. Delta’s recent wave of flight attendant hiring has increased the size of the work group year over year, making its 50 percent goal a moving target. Organizers like Bearman said the other big obstacle is Delta’s culture.

“Every email from your manager says something like, ‘Don’t take the risk, don’t sign it.’ Related to the union cards. You see in every lounge, ‘Don’t take the risk, don’t sign it, learn the truth about AFA.’ It’s deliberately put into the culture to really instill fear in the flight attendants,” Bearman said.

Delta said they want to ensure employees “have the information they need to make their own decisions about union representation.” They added that they believe “their direct relationship has consistently delivered greater value to our employees, and we share this position clearly and transparently with our employees.”

The company has launched its own campaign of sorts. They even created a website for employees that highlights the benefits of being unorganized and emphasizes that the company’s direct relationship sets them apart from other unionized airlines and makes them industry leaders.

Nicolas Owens, airline research analyst at Morning Star, calls Delta’s lack of flight attendant representation “a difference without a difference” in this highly competitive industry. He said Delta needs to compete with other unionized airlines and already pays its employees premium prices. He suggested that Delta’s desire to stave off a union is probably less about maximizing profits and more about something else.

“There will likely be a desire to maintain existing practices that might give them some scheduling flexibility or other things that might be suppressed under a union contract,” Owens said.

A flight attendant, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from colleagues, said she feels extremely supported at Delta and sees no need for a union. During the technical outage in July, she was rerouted several times and returned home from an 18-hour day screaming from exhaustion. She said her first call was to her supervisor, who took her concerns seriously. Her manager removed the trip from her schedule the next day and stayed in touch with her over the next few days. She said that even during this not-so-pleasant experience, she felt like the company was doing everything they could to help her.

“I’m not brainwashed into believing that Delta is perfect by any means, but the evidence of what the union can and is doing, I don’t think makes me willing to give them money,” she said.

Although there are a number of flight attendants at Delta who wish to remain without representation, the AFA said they have received unprecedented support this time. Its president, Sara Nelson, said she believes this campaign is different from those of the past because the labor movement as a whole is stronger today.

“Here we are today, with the union faltering, everyone talking about it,” Nelson said. “The difference is that there is this message of solidarity among the working class.”

Nelson believes Delta flight attendants are encouraged by other major workplace successes and see unionization as a way to have a voice at Delta.

“They realize that the only way to take control of their lives is actually to sign a union card and fight for that union. And I have never seen that message so strongly before in this campaign.”

She added that if the momentum continues, she expects Delta flight attendants to have a voice by the end of the year.