by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 2:41 PM ET, Fri June 17, 2022
After Delta Air Lines' recent announcement that it was canceling some 100 flights each day through August due to labor shortages, pilots of the airline and members of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA) have written an open letter to customers frustrated by the chaos, sharing in their frustration.
The letter is as follows, sourced from ALPA's website:
"To Our Valued Customers:
The Delta pilots take pride in the reliability and the service that defines Delta Air Lines. We are disheartened when we witness the impact of your disrupted travel plans. As you travel with us this summer and beyond, we ask you to please remember the following:
- Delta pilots will continue to prioritize safety - every day and on every flight.
- We have been working on our days off, flying a record amount of overtime to help you get to your destination. At the current rate, by this fall, our pilots will have flown more overtime in 2022 than in the entirety of 2018 and 2019 combined, our busiest years to date.
- We empathize and share in your frustration over the delays, cancellations, and disrupted travel plans you've experienced. We agree; it is unacceptable.
As we welcome you aboard, we will continue to go above and beyond to ensure the integrity of the operation. Delta's management needs to do the same before you lose confidence in the Delta brand.
The Pilots of Delta Air Lines"
Thousands of flights are being canceled by airlines each day as they struggle with labor shortages and summer storms.
But experts say it's the airlines' mismanagement that might be the root cause of the issue.
"This is the first time in our history that we've published an open letter to customers," said Delta ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC) chairman Captain Jason Ambrosi in a statement by ALPA. "The Delta pilots take great pride in getting our passengers to their destinations safely and on time. It's disheartening to see customers waiting in long lines to rebook flights due to scheduling issues that could have been prevented."
In addition to the letter, Delta Air Lines pilots picketed outside of a June 16 shareholders meeting to advocate for reducing flights to the number of pilots it currently employs to reduce the cancellations and the amount of overtime the pilots are currently taking on to service as many flights as possible.
Delta Air Lines did publish a statement that addressed the summer cancellations and delays, but didn't directly address the open letter or the picketing; it mentioned the number of weekend flight cancellations from May to June had decreased 35 percent but didn't mention staffing shortages.
"This phase of our recovery has been the most difficult. We've never had to bring the airline back at this speed before," said E.V.P. and Chief of Operations John Laughter in the statement. "Through this challenge, we continue to make decisions that allow us to run a good, safe operation while restoring our network, and to take care of our people and customers."
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