Claim: Other airlines’ “sick leave” is better than Delta PPT
Reality: This is misleading.
Delta’s Paid Personal Time (PPT) program goes beyond sick time to provide more flexibility for our flight attendants than the policies at our peers.
AFA claim: “Almost every other unionized Flight Attendant group has separate banks for personal time and sick time… We can demand ... a full sick leave bank that’s separate from PPT.”
The “personal time” at other airlines consists of unpaid trip drops, not a paid bank like PPT. In fact, at United, when a trip is dropped for “personal time off” the lost time may be made up in the month lost only if authorized by the company.
We are unaware of any airline that provides separate banks of paid time for all three: vacation, sick leave, and personal time.
Delta’s PPT program is unique in that flight attendants can use their PPT for any reason – not just sick time.
Flight attendants at American and United can only use their paid sick leave bank hours for sick leave.
At Delta, for additional flexibility, any unused PPT can also be cashed out or rolled into Certified Time. American and United don’t have this option.
AFA claim: “[U]nionized Flight Attendants have much larger sick banks than our max PPT accrual.”
Delta flight attendants receive 56 hours of PPT compared to 54 hours of sick leave at American and 48 hours of sick leave at United. While United and American flight attendants can bank up to 1,250 hours and 1,500 hours of PPT, it would take 26 years and 27 years of working, respectively, and not using a day of sick time to accrue that amount.
Delta flight attendants can roll over up to 168 PPT hours in addition to the 56 hours for current year accrual, for a total of 224 available hours. Any additional hours are converted to Certified Time, which provides 100% pay protection for disability leave longer than seven days.
AFA claim: "[Delta’s PPT] hasn’t increased for Flight Attendants since 2016!”
AFA-represented United also has not changed its sick leave since 2016, which has remained at 4 hours per month and paid at hourly rates that have not changed since 2020. Meanwhile, Delta flight attendants have seen three pay increases and earn more PPT on an annual basis – this is paid at hourly rates 19-23% higher than United across every step of the scale.
AFA claim: In negotiations, “[w]e can demand ... [W]e bargain for whatever we decide.”
That’s not how negotiations work. One side does not simply make “demands” and force the other side to agree. Negotiating parties must agree on every term. It requires give and take.
AFA has told Delta flight attendants that it can negotiate a contract quickly by being more targeted in the number of changes sought, yet it keeps making big claims of what it will “demand” during negotiations. Both things cannot be true.
The bottom line: AFA’s claims about Delta’s PPT in comparison with what unions have achieved at other airlines simply do not ring true. Neither do its claims about negotiations and how that process works, or what Delta flight attendants can expect from AFA representation.
Related AFA vs. Reality Articles
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MARCH 29, 2023
“AFA has the experience and ability to complete negotiations in a year”
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FEBRUARY 2, 2023
"Top hourly pay for some, not all Delta flight attendants."
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