Delta Airlines 2010 Annual Report Download - page 14

Table of Contents
Completion of Merger Integration
Integration of a number of the workgroups following our merger with NWA (including pilots, aircraft maintenance technicians, dispatchers,
meteorologists, simulator technicians, and office and clerical staff) has been completed. As discussed below, completion of the integration of certain
workgroups (including flight attendants, airport employees and reservations employees) will require the final resolution of representation issues. We cannot
predict when these representation issues will be finally resolved.
Under procedures that have been utilized by the NMB, each labor union that represented U.S.-based employees at pre-merger Delta or NWA, as well as
other groups of employees with a sufficient showing of interest, may 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 the airlines have combined or will combine to form a single carrier. On
January 7, 2009, the NMB first ruled that Delta and NWA constitute a single transportation system for representation purposes under the Railway Labor Act
in response to applications filed by certain of the pre-merger unions at Delta and NWA. The NMB subsequently made the same determination as the unions
filed applications to resolve post-merger representation issues in the remaining workgroups.
The NMB has utilized certain procedures to address and resolve representation issues arising from airline mergers which generally have included the
following:
• Where employees in the same craft or class at the two carriers are represented by the same union, that union will be certified to represent the
combined group, without an election.
• Where employees in the same craft or class at the two carriers have different representation status—either they are represented by different unions or
one group is represented by a union and the other is not—the NMB's rules provide for a representation election among the combined employee
groups if the groups are "comparable" in size. In general, the NMB has considered two groups to be comparable in size if the smaller group is at
least 35% of the combined group. If the representation election results in the combined group not being represented by a union, the collective
bargaining agreement covering the group that had previously been unionized will terminate.
• If the two groups are not comparable in size, the smaller group will be folded into and have the same representation status as the larger group. Even
where the two groups are not comparable in size, the smaller group can still obtain an election if, within 14 days after the NMB's single carrier
determination with respect to that group, the smaller group submits a showing of interest from at least 35% of the combined group. The showing of
interest can consist of authorization cards as well as the seniority list of the smaller group, if the smaller group had been represented by a union.
Based upon these procedures, representation and related issues have been resolved in U.S.-based workgroups represented by six of the eight labor unions at
Delta and NWA pre-merger. As noted, in 2010, the NMB changed the voting rules for representation elections in the airline industry to provide that a majority
of votes cast (rather than a majority of votes eligible to be cast) is necessary to certify a union to represent a craft or class of employees. Following the change
in voting rules, the NMB authorized and conducted elections sought by the two remaining pre-merger NWA unions, the Association of Flight Attendants-
CWA ("AFA"), which represented flight attendants at pre-merger NWA, and the International Association of Machinists ("IAM"), which represented various
categories of ground employees at pre-merger NWA. The employee groups, the union seeking representation and the approximate number of employees in
each workgroup prior to the election is set forth in the table below:
Approximate Number
of Employees
Union Seeking (as of June 30,
Employee Group Representation 2010)
Flight Attendants AFA 20,100
Fleet Service(1) IAM 14,100
Stores Employees(2) IAM 700
Passenger Service(3) IAM 16,400
(1) Includes below-wing airport customer service employees, cargo warehouse employees and related positions
(2) Includes technical operations supply attendants, stock clerks and stores utility employees
(3) Includes above-wing airport customer service agents, cargo sales agents and passenger reservations sales agents
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