Delta flight attendants sue airline alleging discrimination

Delta Air Lines Inc. - DAL was sued by flight attendants claiming the carrier is punishing them for their union membership while working for Northwest Airlines Corp. before its acquisition in 2008.

"Delta management withheld higher profit-sharing checks from over 7,500 pre-merger Northwest flight attendants based solely upon their prior union membership," the Association of Flight Attendants said in a statement announcing the filing of the complaint today in federal court in Minneapolis.

Atlanta-based Delta and Northwest combined to create what was the world's largest airline in a transaction valued then at $2.75 billion.

The six flight attendants who filed the complaint claim the airline has discriminated against them for their pre-acquisition membership in the union, which didn't represent Delta crews.

The plaintiffs seek a court order directing the carrier to "align compensation for the flight attendants without regard to pre-merger status." They also want back pay to compensate them for the allegedly lower wages and profit-sharing.

After the carriers combined, the National Mediation Board held a vote to decide whether the all of the flight attendants would be represented by the union, according to the complaint.

When unionization was rejected, the flight attendants' association asked the board to review the election process for interference by the carrier, the plaintiffs allege.

'Separate sets'

"Until representation is fully resolved, NMB rules require that we continue to administer two separate sets of pay, benefits and work rules," Gina Laughlin, a spokeswoman for Delta, said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News.

"All of our employee groups -- union or non-union -- have had pay, benefits and work rules aligned when they've resolved representation, not piecemeal. The AFA continues to disrespect our flight attendants and the integrity of the voting process," Laughlin said.

United Continental Holdings Inc. - UAL, the Chicago-based company formed last year by UAL Corp.'s acquisition of Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc., now operates the world's biggest carrier.

The case is McMahon v. Delta Air Lines Inc., 11-cv-00521, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota (Minneapolis).

(Published by Bloomberg - March 2, 2011)