HAPEVILLE, Ga. — Marching behind a big red banner that read “Same work, poverty pay. End the Delta disparity difference,” some 50 Endeavor Air flight attendants, backed by pilots and other supporters, held a spirited protest at Delta Air Lines headquarters here Oct. 3. They pressed their demands for equal pay and improved working conditions from the industry giant. Endeavor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta, operates flights as one of Delta Connection’s contract carriers.
The 1,000 flight attendants at Endeavor are members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which organized the action.
A contingent of Service Employees International Union members, as well as several Delta employees, joined in to show support for AFA’s fight.
“We’re really in this fight together and we’re getting more support,” said flight attendant Kirk Leacock, who has been working at Endeavor since 2019. “Delta owns Endeavor, but we’re paid much less than Delta employees. Our working conditions are worse and our benefits lower.”
“Starting pay for flight attendants at this carrier amounts to about $27,000 a year,” Tim Kipka, president of the AFA at Endeavor, told the Militant. He has worked for Endeavor for 20 years and has reached top pay, nearly $42,000 a year.
If Delta flight attendants worked the same number of hours at top pay, they would make nearly $72,000 a year, Kipka said, adding he is not the only flight attendant who has to work a second job to make ends meet.“Unequal pay is our biggest problem, but also we get no boarding pay and no overtime. We don’t have the right to strike. The Railway Labor Act needs to go.”