Delta Airlines 2014 Annual Report Download - page 19

Employee strikes and other labor-related disruptions may adversely affect our operations.
Our business is labor intensive, utilizing large numbers of pilots, flight attendants, aircraft maintenance technicians, ground support personnel and
other personnel. As of December 31, 2014 , approximately 18% of our workforce, primarily pilots, was unionized. Relations between air carriers and
labor unions in the United States are governed by the Railway Labor Act, which provides that a collective bargaining agreement between an airline and
a labor union does not expire, but instead becomes amendable as of a stated date. The Railway Labor Act generally prohibits strikes or other types of
self help actions both before and after a collective bargaining agreement becomes amendable, unless and until the collective bargaining processes
required by the Railway Labor Act have been exhausted. Monroe's relations with unions representing its employees are governed by the NLRA, which
generally allows self help after a collective bargaining agreement expires.
If we or our subsidiaries are unable to reach agreement with any of our unionized work groups on future negotiations regarding the terms of their
collective bargaining agreements or if additional segments of our workforce become unionized, we may be subject to work interruptions or stoppages,
subject to the requirements of the Railway Labor Act or the NLRA, as the case may be. Strikes or labor disputes with our unionized employees may
adversely affect our ability to conduct business. Likewise, if third-party regional carriers with whom we have contract carrier agreements are unable to
reach agreement with their unionized work groups in current or future negotiations regarding the terms of their collective bargaining agreements, those
carriers may be subject to work interruptions or stoppages, subject to the requirements of the Railway Labor Act, which could have a negative impact
on our operations.
Extended interruptions or disruptions in service at one of our hub or gateway airports could have a material adverse impact on our operations.
Our business is heavily dependent on our operations at the Atlanta airport and at our other hub or gateway airports in Amsterdam, Detroit, Los
Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Each of
these operations includes flights that gather and distribute traffic from markets in the geographic region surrounding the hub or gateway to other major
cities and to other Delta hubs and gateways. A significant extended interruption or disruption in service at one of our hubs or gateways could have a
material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Disruptions or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure could interfere with our operations, compromise passenger or
employee information and expose us to liability, possibly causing our business and reputation to suffer.
A serious internal technology error or failure impacting systems hosted internally at our data centers or externally at third-party locations, or large
scale external interruption in technology infrastructure we depend on, such as power, telecommunications or the internet, may disrupt our technology
network. A significant individual, sustained or repeated failure of our network, including third-party networks we utilize and on which we depend,
could impact our customer service and result in increased costs.
Our technology systems and related data may also be vulnerable to a variety of sources of interruption, including natural disasters, terrorist attacks,
telecommunications failures, computer viruses, hackers and other security issues. While we have in place, and continue to invest in, technology
security initiatives and disaster recovery plans, these measures may not be adequate or implemented properly to prevent a business disruption and its
adverse financial and reputational consequences to our business.
In addition, as a part of our ordinary business operations, we collect and store sensitive data, including personal information of our passengers and
employees and information of our business partners. The secure operation of the networks and systems on which this type of information is stored,
processed and maintained is critical to our business operations and strategy.
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