Pilots at Delta Air Lines raised the stakes in labor contract talks by voting in favor of authorizing union leaders to call a strike in the event that negotiations come to a head.
But the vote does not mean a strike is planned. Instead, it’s intended to send a message to management that the airline’s nearly 15,000 rank-and-file pilots are unified, as union negotiators from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) push for higher pay. The vote comes following a difficult summer travel season in which Delta pilots conducted informational picketing outside several major U.S. airports amid concerns about staffing challenges as air travel rebounds from the worst of the pandemic.
Of the pilots union’s members at Delta, 96% participated in the vote and 99% of ballots cast were in favor of the authorizing union leaders to call a strike if necessary, according to ALPA.
