Delta Airlines 2008 Annual Report Download - page 16

Table of Contents
Index to Financial Statements
Collective Bargaining
As of December 31, 2008, we had a total of 84,306 full-time equivalent employees. Approximately 42% of these employees were represented by
unions, including the following domestic employee groups.
Employee Group
Approximate
Number of
Employees
Represented Union
Date on which Collective
Bargaining Agreement
Becomes Amendable
Delta Pilots (including pre-merger NWA pilots) 11,040 ALPA December 31, 2012
Delta Flight Superintendents (Dispatchers) 180 PAFCA December 31, 2013
NWA Dispatchers 150 TWU December 31, 2013
NWA Fleet Service, Passenger Service, and Office/Clerical 11,030 IAM December 31, 2010
NWA Simulator Technicians 40 IAM December 31, 2010
NWA Stock Clerks 270 IAM December 31, 2010
NWA Flight Attendants 6,290 AFA-CWA December 31, 2011
NWA Mechanics and Related Employees 900 AMFA(1) None
NWA Plant Protection Employees 10 IAM December 31, 2010
NWA Technical Operations Trainers, Planners, Writers and Analysts 170 ATSA December 31, 2011
NWA Meteorologists 20 NAMA December 31, 2011
Comair Pilots 1,190 ALPA March 2, 2011
Comair Maintenance Employees 500 IAM December 31, 2010
Comair Flight Attendants 790 IBT December 31, 2010
Compass Pilots 320 ALPA April 1, 2013
Mesaba Pilots 1,090 ALPA December 1, 2010
Mesaba Flight Attendants 650 AFA-CWA December 1, 2010
Mesaba Mechanics and Related Employees 310 AMFA December 1, 2010
Mesaba Dispatchers 25 TWU May 31, 2012
(1) On February 26, 2009, the NMB accepted a request by AMFA to terminate its certification to represent pre-merger NWA aircraft maintenance technicians and related employees.
Labor unions periodically engage in organizing efforts to represent various groups of our employees, including at our airline subsidiaries, that are not
represented for collective bargaining purposes.
The successful integration of NWA into Delta and achievement of the anticipated benefits of the merger depend significantly on integrating Delta's and
NWA's employee groups and on maintaining productive employee relations. The integration of Delta and NWA workforces will be challenging in part
because approximately 80% of the pre-merger Northwest employees are represented by labor unions while, among U.S. based pre-merger Delta employees,
only the Delta pilots and flight dispatchers (who combined constitute approximately 17% of the total pre-merger Delta employees) are represented by labor
unions. Completing the integration of the workforces of the two airlines will require the resolution of potentially difficult issues relating to representation of
various work groups and the relative seniority of the work groups at each carrier. Unexpected delay, expense or other challenges to integrating the workforces
could impact the expected synergies from the combination of Delta and NWA and affect our financial performance.
Under procedures that have been utilized by the NMB, each labor union that currently represents U.S.-based employees at Delta or NWA, as well as
other groups of employees with a sufficient showing of interest, will have an opportunity to invoke the NMB's jurisdiction to address representation issues
arising from the merger. Once its jurisdiction is invoked, the NMB's rules call for it to first determine whether Delta and NWA have combined or will
combine to form a single carrier. On January 7, 2009, the NMB ruled that Delta and NWA now constitute a single transportation system for representation
purposes under the Railway Labor Act.
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